--- title: "Brand Policy Compliance | Pitch, European law firm" description: "We help brand owners get distributors, resellers and licensees to follow the brand rules, through the contract, monitoring and a graduated response." url: https://www.pitch.law/solutions/online-brand-compliance --- [pitch](https://www.pitch.law/) [Solutions](https://www.pitch.law/solutions) [Intellectual Property](https://www.pitch.law/solution-categories/intellectual-property) # Brand Policy Compliance We help brand owners get distributors, resellers and licensees to follow the brand rules, through the contract, monitoring and a graduated response. - By By Bart Lieben, Attorney-at-Law - Published 8 February 2022 - 360 stage: Protect ## The question Most brand problems in a distribution network are not deliberate. A distributor still uses the old logo. A reseller rewrites product descriptions and ends up making claims the product cannot support. A partner registers a domain name containing your mark and uses it for a shop you never approved. You have brand guidelines, but you cannot tell who follows them, and the contract you signed may not give you a clear way to insist. The question is how to turn a brand manual into obligations that can be checked and enforced, without damaging commercial relationships. Typical triggers are a new distribution network, a rebrand that partners have to adopt, a partner found selling outside its territory, or an acquisition that brings licences with unknown terms. In each case the starting question is the same: what exactly did the partner agree to, and can we show it? ## Our approach The contract comes first. We review your distribution, reseller and licence agreements and check whether they define what the partner may do: the licensed marks, territories and channels, the quality standards, the brand guidelines that apply, reporting and audit rights, and the consequences of a breach. A trademark licence also has a legal side. A licensee's use of the mark must be controlled, otherwise the quality and origin function of the mark can suffer. The [knowledge base article on distribution and reseller agreements](https://www.pitch.law/academy/distribution-reseller-agreements) sets out what these clauses normally contain. Competition law sets limits. Restrictions on how and where a reseller may sell online are only allowed within the boundaries of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (EU) 2022/720, so brand rules have to be drafted with that in mind. Once the contract is in order, the duties of each party can be followed. Our [rights and obligations register](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-obligations) extracts the duties from the signed contract, each with the clause it comes from, has a person confirm them, and then follows deadlines such as reporting dates, notice periods and review points with reminders. Next comes monitoring. [Our online brand monitoring](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/domain-monitoring-enforcement) looks for the places where partners step outside the rules online: domain names containing your mark, sites and marketplace listings using outdated or modified logos, and sales channels you have not authorised. The [background article on brand monitoring](https://www.pitch.law/academy/online-brand-protection-how-brand-monitoring-works) explains how detections are scored and reviewed. Authorised sellers can be recognised, so the attention goes to real deviations. When a deviation is found, the response is graduated. We usually begin with an informal note that points to the exact problem and supplies the correct materials, which solves most cases. If it persists, we send a formal notice under the contract, then suspend commercial terms, and as a last step terminate. The steps are agreed in the contract beforehand, so that the response is proportionate and defensible. Physical channels are covered by contractual means: audit rights, reporting duties and, where useful, test purchases. ## What you get - A review of your existing partner agreements, with a list of gaps and proposed amendments. - Brand guidelines translated into contract terms and a short rulebook partners can apply. - A register of partner duties and dates that is kept current. - Monitoring of online use of your marks by partners and third parties, with attorney review of what is flagged. - A defined escalation path and the letters and notices to follow it, in English, Dutch, French or German. A programme of this kind can be extended market by market. We keep a consistent core standard and adapt the points that differ by country, such as advertising claims and labelling. A short scenario: a European bicycle maker sells through forty dealers. After a rebrand, monitoring shows eleven dealer sites still using the old logo and two dealers selling on a marketplace, which the agreement does not allow. The register shows that the rebrand deadline in the dealer agreements was three months. We send an informal note with the new assets to the eleven, a formal notice to the two marketplace sellers, and propose a clearer online sales clause for the next renewal. ## Next step Tell us which partner agreements you have and where you suspect deviations. We will review a sample and show what a workable compliance framework would look like. [Schedule a meeting](https://www.pitch.law/schedule) or [contact us](https://www.pitch.law/contact-us). ## In short - Brand rules written into distribution and licence contracts - Partner duties extracted and followed with reminders - Online monitoring of partner use of your marks and domain names - Graduated response from informal note to termination - Consistent core standard across jurisdictions ## Technology we use - [Technology](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/domain-monitoring-enforcement) ### [Online Brand Monitoring](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/domain-monitoring-enforcement) [Continuous discovery of lookalike domain names, counterfeit listings and impersonating accounts, with detections shown in the client portal for attorney review.](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/domain-monitoring-enforcement) - [Technology](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-obligations) ### [Contract Management: Rights and Obligations](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-obligations) [Once a contract is final, we pull out each party's duties and rights with the clause they come from, have a person confirm them, and follow them with reminders.](https://www.pitch.law/technologies/contract-obligations) ## Background reading - [Academy](https://www.pitch.law/academy/online-brand-protection-how-brand-monitoring-works) ### [Online Brand Protection: How Brand Monitoring Works](https://www.pitch.law/academy/online-brand-protection-how-brand-monitoring-works) [How infringements of a trademark are found online, which rules decide whether they are unlawful, and which routes exist to stop them.](https://www.pitch.law/academy/online-brand-protection-how-brand-monitoring-works) - [Academy](https://www.pitch.law/academy/distribution-reseller-agreements) ### [Distribution and Reseller Agreements](https://www.pitch.law/academy/distribution-reseller-agreements) [How to structure distribution and reseller agreements in the EU: exclusivity, termination protection, online sales, and the brand provisions that keep control.](https://www.pitch.law/academy/distribution-reseller-agreements) ## More in Intellectual Property - ### [Trademark Clearance](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/trademark-clearance) [A structured check of whether a name or logo is free to use and register, ending in an attorney-signed opinion with risk levels and a clear recommendation.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/trademark-clearance) - ### [Trademark Watch & Opposition](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/trademark-watch-opposition-monitoring) [We watch the registers for new marks that conflict with yours, tell you which ones matter, and oppose within the deadline when you instruct us to.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/trademark-watch-opposition-monitoring) - ### [Brand Monitoring & Online Enforcement](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/effective-online-brand-protection) [We find counterfeit listings, impersonation and lookalike domains across marketplaces, social media and the web, and act on them through the right route.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/effective-online-brand-protection) - ### [Domain Name Disputes](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/domain-name-litigation) [We recover or cancel domain names registered in bad faith, through the UDRP, the URS, the .eu procedure, country-code procedures such as .be, or the courts, and defend clients accused of the same.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/domain-name-litigation) - ### [IP Portfolio Management](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/ip-portfolio-intelligence) [We keep your trademarks, designs, domain names and patents in one overview, follow every deadline and prepare each renewal decision with a cost estimate.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/ip-portfolio-intelligence) - ### [Trademark Registration](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/trademark-registration) [We choose the right route and scope for your mark, file it with the EUIPO, the BOIP or through the Madrid System, and keep it in order afterwards.](https://www.pitch.law/solutions/trademark-registration) ## Let’s talk Tell us what you’re working on. We’ll get the right person on it and reply within one business day. The first chat is free. [Schedule a meeting](https://www.pitch.law/schedule)