Protecting Your Brand Online: EU and UK Enforcement Tools Businesses Should Know
Finding an unauthorised copy of your product on a major marketplace, or discovering that someone is selling counterfeits under your brand name, can feel both deeply frustrating and disorienting. Many businesses do not know where to start, whether it is worth the effort, or what practical routes are actually open to them. The good news is that the tools available to rights holders have improved significantly in recent years, and developments in both the EU and the UK in 2026 have made those routes more accessible and more enforceable than before.
What Does EU Law Give You?
The Digital Services Act has substantially strengthened the obligations that apply to very large online platforms and search engines operating in the EU. Under the DSA, platforms must provide clear and accessible mechanisms for reporting illegal content, including counterfeit goods and infringing material, and must act on those reports in a timely way. This creates a more legally enforceable route for rights holders to request the removal of infringing listings, backed by regulatory oversight rather than individual platform goodwill.
Reinforcing this, the European Commission and the European Union Intellectual Property Office have entered into a five-year cooperation agreement specifically focused on fighting counterfeiting and piracy online. The EUIPO will provide technical support and expertise to assist with DSA enforcement in relation to intellectual property infringements on very large platforms, with a focus on counterfeit goods and pirated content. For businesses selling into the EU, or whose products appear on EU-facing platforms, this represents a meaningful change in how seriously the problem is being treated at a regulatory level.
What about UK Protection after Brexit?
The UK maintains its own intellectual property framework, and rights holders in England and Wales have a well-established set of options. The UK Intellectual Property Office updated its guidance on protecting IP rights on e-commerce stores in April 2026, covering how major platforms including Alibaba, Amazon, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Temu, and TikTok Shop enable rights holders to report and remove infringing listings.
Most major platforms operate intellectual property reporting systems, and the UK IPO guidance explains how each of them works in practice. These tools range from direct reporting interfaces to structured brand protection programmes that give rights holders faster access to takedown processes. Knowing which mechanism applies to which platform, and what information you need to provide, can make the difference between a swift removal and a prolonged and frustrating exchange.
Platform-Specific Routes Worth Knowing About
eBay operates the Verified Rights Owner programme, known as VeRO, which allows intellectual property owners and their authorised representatives to report listings they believe infringe their rights. Holders can submit reports directly through the VeRO interface, and eBay's policy requires it to act on valid notices by removing the infringing listings.
Amazon, Alibaba, and TikTok Shop each have their own brand protection or IP infringement reporting channels, and many platforms now offer additional tools for registered brand owners that allow faster processing of removal requests. Registering your brand with these platforms where possible, rather than relying solely on individual reports, provides a stronger foundation for ongoing protection.
For businesses whose content rather than physical products is being copied, including photographers, designers, developers, and content creators, the same principles apply. Most major platforms have copyright infringement reporting processes in place, and the DSA reinforces the obligation on large platforms to respond to valid notices without undue delay.
What if the Platform Does Not Respond?
If a platform fails to act on a valid infringement report, further routes are available. In the EU, the DSA creates accountability mechanisms that allow rights holders to escalate complaints, and regulatory bodies have the power to require platforms to take action. In the UK, the Intellectual Property Office can provide guidance on your options, and civil proceedings remain available where informal routes have been exhausted.
It is worth keeping clear records of every infringing listing you identify, every report you submit, and every response or lack of response you receive. This documentation is valuable both for escalating complaints within platform systems and for any subsequent legal action you may wish to take.
Where to Start
If your brand or creative work is appearing without your permission on online marketplaces or social platforms, the UK IPO's e-commerce guidance, updated as recently as April 2026, is a practical starting point. For businesses with significant EU exposure, reviewing your options under the Digital Services Act and considering engagement with the relevant national IP authority are both worth including in your strategy.
Online brand protection is a process rather than a one-off task, and the platform tools work best for rights holders who approach them systematically and keep organised records. If your situation is more complex, for example if you are dealing with organised infringement at scale or a platform that has repeatedly failed to act on your reports, taking specialist legal advice will help you understand your full range of options and build an approach that matches the scale of the problem.
How Can Gerrish Legal Help?
Gerrish Legal is a dynamic digital law firm. We pride ourselves on giving high-quality and expert legal advice to our valued clients. We specialise in many aspects of digital law such as GDPR, data privacy, digital and technology law, commercial law, and intellectual property.
We give companies the support they need to successfully and confidently run their businesses whilst complying with legal regulations without the burdens of keeping up with ever-changing digital requirements.
We are here to help you, get in contact with us today for more information.