Facebook Updates Rights Protection Tools to Aid Brands in Detecting IP Violations Across Apps

With a new update to its Commerce and Ads IP Tool, Facebook aims to help businesses crackdown on unapproved usage of their intellectual property across its apps. It's also renaming it to 'Brand Rights Protection,' which provides a more plain description of its goal.

As shown in this image, Facebook's Brand Rights Protection platform allows businesses to upload pictures of their licensed products, which Facebook's systems can then use as a reference point for detecting similar matches and highlighting potential usage violations in Page posts, Marketplace listings, and other places.

Brand Rights Protection allows enrolled trademark owners to search for and report content that they believe infringes on their intellectual property rights and now includes elements to make the process more efficient and automated. Businesses must first register their trademark certificates and credentials with Facebook, after which they will be able to use the tool to find matches based on legal ownership.

The ability to upload and save up to 10 photos, including logos or product images, to scan material across Facebook and Instagram is the most significant change to the new platform. Brands have only been allowed to search on a proactive, case-by-case basis up until now, and they haven't been able to save these searches. The new upgrade will increase the capability for constant tracking and warnings, allowing IP owners to detect potential product infringement better. In addition, Facebook is expanding the tool's search capabilities beyond paid ads, allowing marketers to search for and report Instagram accounts and posts that they believe are infringing on their intellectual property. That's a big step forward, and it'll certainly catch a lot more IP infractions in the future, including unlicensed or undesired use in influencer posts and other sponsored partnerships.

Facebook has also launched a new dashboard that displays total IP actions and the status of their IP reports and previous activity. The updates will give brands more control over how their product images are used, allowing them to address unapproved instances and scams. They will also work with Rights Manager, Facebook's copyright detection tool for creators and publishers, to provide enhanced coverage for detecting potential violations and addressing them before they harm creators and rights owners via Facebook's apps.

Ideally, this will put an end to scam sunglass sale posts in your feed and shady Marketplace resellers, and it will also become a more critical element as the platform moves deeper into eCommerce and on-platform selling.