A distributor sends you a photo from a trade fair. Or a customer asks why your “other listing” is cheaper. However it arrives, the discovery that someone is copying your product or brand triggers the same instinct: confront them, immediately, loudly. That instinct is wrong. What you do in the first 48 hours decides how strong your case is months later. Here’s the sequence.
Hour one: preserve, don’t confront
- Screenshot everything: listings, websites, and social pages, with dates and URLs visible.
- If it’s a physical product, buy one. Keep the invoice; it proves the sale and the seller.
- Note where you saw it and who else might have: marketplaces, retailers, importers.
Evidence evaporates the moment a copycat senses trouble; listings vanish overnight. Preserve first; everything else can wait a day.
Hour two: say nothing publicly
Don’t message the infringer, don’t post about it, don’t rally your customers on social media. A premature accusation can tip them off, taint your evidence, and, if you’ve named them and got it wrong, expose you to a claim yourself. In India, threatening infringement proceedings without basis has its own statutory consequences. Anger is a strategy leak.
Day one: audit your own position
Before pointing at their rights, check yours. Is your trademark registered, in the right class, renewed? Is the design registered? Is the copyright chain of title clean? The strength of your paperwork determines the menu of remedies; registered rights unlock faster, cheaper enforcement than reputation-based claims.
Day two: choose the escalation, deliberately
With evidence preserved and rights confirmed, the options open up: a marketplace takedown (often the fastest kill), a cease-and-desist letter calibrated to invite settlement rather than war, or, where the harm is serious and ongoing, moving a court for an injunction. Most matters end at the letter. The ones that don’t are won on the evidence you preserved in hour one.
Our enforcement practice runs this playbook regularly, and will tell you frankly whether your case justifies each next step. If you’ve just found a copycat, call us before you do anything else: +91 98208 60806.
This note is general information, not legal advice. For advice on a specific matter, consult a qualified advocate.