Snapdeal joins International Trademark Association

New Delhi: E-commerce marketplace Snapdeal on Tuesday said it has joined International Trademark Association (INTA) as part of its efforts to support protection of intellectual property on online marketplaces.

INTA is a global association that has more than 7,200 members across 187 countries. Its existing members include marketplaces, like Alibaba, that have implemented many IP protection programmes.

Its members also comprise large brand owners, small and medium enterprises, government offices and non-profits, among others. INTA aims to protect and promote the rights of trademark owners, support efforts for the advancement of trademark rights and work towards the development of appropriate legislation in this regard.

"Snapdeal is committed to collaborating with the right stakeholders to address the issue of trademark counterfeiting. Snapdeal's association with INTA will allow us to share industry insights and technical know-how in the global fight against those infringing intellectual property rights," a Snapdeal spokesperson said.

The issue of unscrupulous sellers mis-using online marketplaces to sell counterfeits is a global problem, where the marketplaces are as much a victim of the fraud as the buyers are, the spoksperson added.

"Hence, the opportunity to share best practices and learn from the experiences of others is a valuable aspect of INTA's initiatives," the company said.

Over the last one year, Snapdeal has rolled out a variety of measures that allow brands to protect their IP on the marketplace. Snapdeal's 'Brand Shield', which was launched last year, offers brands a single point of contact to report suspected counterfeit products being sold on the platform.

Snapdeal also operates a 'Brand Registry' programme that allows sellers on Snapdeal having their own registered brand name, trademarks etc get exclusive rights to sell their product in the relevant categories on the Snapdeal marketplace. More than 1,000 brands are now part of the registry.

Snapdeal has over five lakh independent third-party sellers on its platform, who together have more than 200 million product listings. More than 70 million users visit Snapdeal every month. SR BAL BAL