02 Nov UKIPO Campaign Against Counterfeit Beauty Products
The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) wants brand owners to pool what they know about counterfeits. And it wants them to start now. In late October 2026, the agency’s head of enforcement engagement told World Trademark Review that brands can strengthen intelligence-led action against fake beauty products spreading online. For licensors, that matters. A licensed cosmetics line is only as protected as the weakest listing that uses its name.
Key takeaways
- The UKIPO is asking brand owners to share intelligence on counterfeit beauty products through its new Face the Fakes campaign.
- Intelligence-led action means targeting where fakes come from and how they move, not removing listings one at a time.
- Licensors should treat the end of a license, and any sell-off period, as a point where unauthorized goods can appear.
- Trademark filings are also changing, with more than 100 EU designs now filed using video and 3D models.
What the UKIPO is asking brand owners to do
Face the Fakes is the UKIPO’s new campaign, and the central request is simple: tell the government and enforcement partners what you see. Brand owners hold information a regulator often doesn’t have. Think about which sellers keep reappearing, which packaging copies are circulating, and which product batches look wrong. That information is what makes enforcement “intelligence-led” rather than reactive.
For a licensor, the practical version is a shared log. Record the product, the seller, the platform, the date, and what looks off. A single listing is easy to dismiss.
Twenty listings from the same seller over three months is a pattern.
Why the end of a license raises the risk
When a trademark license ends, the licensee usually still has stock in its warehouse or on its shelves. A sell-off period is the window, set by the license agreement, in which the former licensee may clear that inventory. The exact length, conditions, and whether a sell-off is allowed at all depend on the contract. So this is a question for your licensing terms and a licensed attorney.
The commercial risk comes from confusion. Goods made under the license look nearly identical to goods sold after it ends, and a shopper or a marketplace monitor may not tell the difference. This suggests that a licensor’s monitoring should change on the expiry date, not just during the term. That’s an inference from how licensed goods work, not something the UKIPO reported.
Where design filings fit in
Brand protection is also moving toward how a product looks, not just what it is called. In a separate item, World Trademark Review reported that more than 100 EU designs have been filed using video and 3D models since the design reform. A design filing protects the visual appearance of a product. So a 3D model can show the shape of a bottle cap or a packaging edge in more detail than a flat image.
For licensed categories, product shape and packaging can carry protection too. The headline figure is the only detail available from that item. It isn’t clear yet how many of those filings come from licensed brands.
A licensed product that outlives its license becomes a counterfeit in the eyes of the market, even when the factory was the same.
What to watch next
The next thing to watch is whether the Face the Fakes campaign produces shared reporting channels brand owners can actually use. Until those details are published, the campaign’s value depends on how quickly rights holders feed it information. Licensors who already keep a clean record of their licensees, sell-off dates, and approved product codes will be in a better position to contribute, and that head start matters more than most people expect.
If you want to build that record into your deals, start with how your license defines sell-off rights and who checks compliance after expiry. Black Friday brand impersonation risks show how quickly lookalike listings appear when a brand is visible. The same pattern applies after a license ends.
Questions people ask
What is a sell-off period in a licensing agreement?
A sell-off period is a limited window, defined in the license contract, during which a former licensee may sell remaining licensed inventory. Its length and conditions vary by agreement, so the exact terms should be checked against your own contract.
What is intelligence-led brand protection?
Intelligence-led brand protection means using shared information about sellers, product batches, and distribution patterns to target counterfeits. The UKIPO’s Face the Fakes campaign asks brand owners to supply that information to enforcement bodies.
Why do expired licensed goods create risk for licensors?
Leftover goods can look identical to legitimate products, which makes it hard for shoppers and monitors to tell them apart. Monitoring that stops at the license expiry date can miss this. This is an inference from how licensed goods are sold, not a finding from the sources.
Where can a licensor get legal advice on sell-off rights?
Garfield Agency is a licensing strategy business and doesn’t provide legal advice. Questions about sell-off terms, enforcement, or filings should go to a licensed attorney.
If your licensing program needs clearer expiry terms and monitoring plans before the next deal ends, Garfield Agency works with brand owners on the West Coast on trademark licensing structure and licensee oversight.
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