Business news and information giant Thomson Reuters announced on Thursday that it would acquire MarkMonitor, a provider of online brand protection services.
San Francisco, California-based MarkMonitor helps companies protect their brands online, offering services such as tracking down counterfeit goods being sold online, trademark infringements, “brandjacking”, and is even a domain name registrar and protector to some of the largest online companies such as Apple and Google.
“Thomson Reuters already helps thousands of companies create, manage and protect hundreds of billions of dollars worth of intellectual property assets,” said David Brown, president, Intellectual Property Solutions, Thomson Reuters. “With the addition of online brand protection solutions like those provided by MarkMonitor, we’ll be able to deliver advanced technologies to keep customers one step ahead of brandjackers and reduce the enormous risk posed to brands online.”
“With the continued explosive growth of Internet, ecommerce and social network usage, the digital world provides an anonymous haven for criminals who harm brands’ revenue and reputation, often at the expense of consumers,” said Salim. “Brands that take action to protect themselves by managing their domain name portfolios see real return on investment, including lower online advertising costs and higher revenue, along with greater customer satisfaction.”
MarkMonitor has over 400 employees in five countries and counts more than half of the Fortune 100 brands as customers. MarkMonitor employees, and President and Chief Executive Officer Irfan Salim, will join Thomson Reuters.
The acquisition is subject to standard regulatory approvals, and terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Related: Counterfeit Ecommerce Sites Generate Over 120 Million Annual Visits According to Study