[2] Markmonitor was founded in 1999[3] in Boise, Idaho[4] and its initial business as a service provider for the protection of corporate trademarks on the Internet.

[6][7] In October 2010, Markmonitor acquired an anti-piracy company (DtecNet)[8][9][1] and was itself purchased by Thomson Reuters' Intellectual Property & Science business in July 2012.

According to the Markmonitor web site, it has been publishing a report called the Brandjacking Index since 2007, to assess how Internet threats affect corresponding brands.

[12][13] In 2010, the company estimated that $200 billion in revenues is lost annually as a result of worldwide counterfeiting and piracy on the Internet.

[8] The 2011 report said the company had identified 23,000 listings "for clones, suspected counterfeits, or gray market" versions of tablet computers[14] by 8,000 sellers.