The creators of BrandBounty, which launched earlier this year, were at a TechCrunch Disrupt gathering of technology startups in San Francisco to show off an application they designed to transform "consumers into brand vigilantes."
The application makes a game of sorts out of exposing counterfeit goods.
People can score points and win prizes by using smartphones to submit pictures, descriptions or other "tips" about apparent knock-offs or piracy.
Brands sponsor contests or reward programs and get any resulting real-time intelligence about possible abuses in the market.
"The age-old problem with brand enforcement is a lack of eyes in the ground," said Jonathan Gonen, co-founder of the company born out of a Los Angeles-based accelerator called StartupMinds.
"With BrandBounty, we now have a simple, fun, and effective solution that turns smart consumers into brand watchdogs."
Counterfeiting and piracy cost the US economy an estimated $1.2 to $1.7 trillion dollars last year, according to Gonen.
A version of BrandBounty was available at the App Store for Apple gadgets with applications tailored for Android smartphones to be available in the coming months.
For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.