Every year, teamsput a lot of work into holiday merchandise: product development, approvals,retail plans, marketing and inventory. Counterfeit sellers do not have to doany of that. They can copy an image or pull an asset from Google Images, openan online storefront and start collecting orders before a legitimate licenseeor retailer has finished prepping for the season.

That is why Q4matters. If you wait until the week of Black Friday to look for unauthorizedproducts, you are already competing with sellers who have had weeks to gettheir listings indexed, test ads and learn which designs are getting attention.

Start with the products people will actually search for

I would begin withthe categories most likely to move as gifts and the moments that will drivedemand. Which new designs are launching? Which teams, artists or characters arehaving a big year? Are there limited-edition products or collaborations that fanswill go looking for by name?

Then search like afan. Look at shopping results, social media feeds, marketplaces and independentsites. Search product names and images, not only the brand name. A seller canavoid a trademark in the title and still use the artwork, trademarks, or name,image and likeness in the listing photo. Document what you find, including theseller, URL, image, price and where the product appears.

Give your licensed partners a fair shot

I came from thelicensing world, so I think about the people who invested in doing this right.An authorized partner pays royalties, follows artwork approvals and takes onthe work of delivering a product fans can trust. If a bootlegger gets in frontof the same fan first with a lower price, the harm reaches beyond the onetransaction.

The goal is not toreport everything that looks unfamiliar. Check approved sellers, categories andterritories before acting. Prioritize the activity that is getting visibility,running ads or using a design tied to a major holiday campaign. Make sure someoneowns the follow-up when a platform does not respond.

A littlepreparation before the big shopping holidays can make you much less reactive.Your team should know what to watch, who can make an enforcement decision andhow quickly it can move. Fans should be able to find the real product when theyare searching for it and ready to buy it.

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