Google to allow search engine users to report counterfeit goods

Google has updated its reporting system to allow search engine users to request the review and removal of counterfeit goods that appear in search results.

The new functionality ties into Google’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) content removal tool, which can be used to request removal of copyright infringing material, reports SearchEngineLand.com.

Google’s policy defines counterfeit goods as those that “contain a trademark or logo that is identical to or substantially indistinguishable from the trademark or logo of another. They mimic the brand features of the product in an attempt to pass themselves off as a genuine product of the brand owner.”

A Google spokesperson told SearchEngineLand.com that this policy only applies to counterfeits, and not to non-counterfeit forms of trademark infringement.