Visa

Intellectual Property Rights

Report Intellectual Property Abuse

While the growth of eCommerce provides merchants immense opportunity to sell their products globally, it also creates an opportunity for criminals to attempt to conduct illegal transactions.  From money laundering to deceptive offers, or illegal gambling to selling counterfeit goods that infringe upon a rightful property owner’s Intellectual Property (“IP”) rights, Visa is committed to preventing the use of its payment brand and system for illegal transactions.  It’s not an easy job, nor is it one that Visa can always handle on its own absent the support of law enforcement, but it is critical to maintaining the trust of all the participants in the payment system.  To that end, Visa has a long track record of working closely with IP owners and cooperating with law enforcement to combat IP infringement on the internet. If you’re an IP owner, read more to learn about how you can report IP infringing transactions to Visa. 

Illegal Transactions Prohibited

Visa has voluntary procedures in place to assist IP owners address illegal transactions involving IP infringement. The Visa Operating Regulations state that a transaction entered into the Visa system "must be legal in both the Cardholder's jurisdiction and the Merchant Outlet's jurisdiction."  Therefore, if Visa is provided with credible information evidencing infringement of IP rights over the Internet, it is Visa’s policy to work with the Merchant’s Acquiring Bank (“Acquirer”) to disallow the use of the Visa payment network services in connection with such infringement. 

How to Report IP Abuse

If you are an IP rights owner and believe a website is accepting Visa as a form of payment for products or services that infringe your IP rights, please provide the following information to us at Inquiries@visa.com:

Description of Violation

1.  Please describe the Violation, including a description of the goods that are infringing, and attach all cease and desist letters, DMCA notices, or related correspondence sent by the IP Owner notifying the Merchant of the infringing activity.

IP Owner's Contact Details

2. IP Owner Company Name:
3. IP Owner Contact First & Last Name:
4. IP Owner Contact Title:
5. IP Owner Contact Email:
6. List of IP Owner's Copyright or Trademark rights alleged to be infringed (include registration numbers and countries, if available):

If a law firm or association is acting on behalf of the IP Owner, please provide

7a.  Agent Company Name:
7b.  Agent Contact First & Last Name:
7c.  Agent Contact Title:
7d.  Agent Contact Email:
7e. Power of Attorney or authorization letter signed by IP Owner confirming Agent is authorized to act on behalf of IP Owner

Merchant Suspected of Engaging in Illegal Activity

8.  Merchant Name:
9.  Merchant Website:
10. Merchant Country (if available):

What Steps Will Visa Take?

Upon receiving the above, Visa will identify the Merchant’s Acquiring Bank, forward #1 through 10 to the Acquirer, and instruct the Acquirer to initiate an investigation into its Merchant.  If the Merchant does not stop the violation, or does not provide compelling, written evidence disproving the violation, the Acquirer will be expected to terminate processing Visa payments for the Merchant.  If the Merchant provides written evidence defending its business activity, such written evidence will be delivered to the IP Owner for further discussion.

Maintaining trust in electronic payments in the face of intellectual property abuse is a responsibility shared by Visa, law enforcement and the IP owner. Visa takes IP infringement seriously, and will continue to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to prevent illegal transactions occurring over the Visa network.