Threats to intellectual property (IP) are rampant in the always-evolving digital space. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI), outsourced manufacturing and increase in sales of counterfeit products over the past decade has brought a new wave of IP threats.
With platforms such as ChatGPT and DALL-E 2 entering the mainstream and enabling users to generate endless amounts of content with the click of a button, infringements on IP rights are becoming increasingly pervasive.
Recently, as reported by the Global Times, the Guangzhou Internet Court in China delivered the world’s first legally binding verdict on copyright infringement in the form of AI-generated images. The court ruled that by generating images using an AI model, a company had infringed on the IP rights of Ultraman, a famous Japanese Sci-Fi series.
The ruling stated that the AI company had infringed on the copyright and adaptation rights to the Ultraman works while providing subscription-based generative AI services and should bear relevant civil liability. This case and the ongoing issue of sellers on the e-commerce marketplace Temu cloning Amazon storefronts sheds light on the importance of brands operating in the e-commerce space to protect their IP and identify violations.
What is Intellectual Property (IP)?
IP is a broad umbrella term for creative works such as inventions, branding, music, images, and other types of human-generated content. There are four primary types of IP: patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Copyrights protect “tangible” works such as written materials, photographs, music, audio recordings, and art. Patents, meanwhile, are issued to protect new and valuable inventions, products, or discoveries. As a form of IP, patents provide product developers exclusive rights to their ideas for a limited period.
Tools to identify IP infringement
Any entrepreneur who has launched a successful e-commerce business can tell you how much time, effort, and resources are invested in building a brand that resonates with consumers. Successful brand building involves developing prominent creative works such as optimized product imagery, recognizable logos, and other media. All of these assets are considered IP.
In a previous GreyScout blog, we looked at the issue of e-commerce business owners being affected by unauthorized third-party sellers, bad actors and brand policy infringers who create and sell exact duplicates of their products on platforms such as Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, Temu and more. Such unauthorized use of assets presents a clear-cut case of IP infringement.
Different types of IP infringement include:
· Trademark infringement refers to the unauthorized use of a trademark that causes consumer confusion about the product’s source or affiliation. In some cases, trademarks infringing on products could be potential counterfeits or unauthorized product replicas—for example, unauthorized counterfeit sneakers bearing the iconic Nike “swoosh” logo.
· Patent infringement: There are two types of patents: utility and design. Patents protect an invention against unauthorized use, reproduction, or sale. Patents may cover manufactured items, machines, designs, and other processes. Patents may be registered within a jurisdiction’s regional patent office.
For example, here’s a case study of how BOA leveraged GreyScout’s brand protection platform to Detect, Verify and Delist patent infringers and counterfeiters selling product replicas on eCommerce marketplaces at scale.
· Rights of publicity: Rights of publicity protect the rights of individuals from the unauthorized use of their names, likenesses, or other recognizable aspects of their personas from being misused in product listings, advertisements, or other commercial activities. Using a third party’s publicity rights without proper authorization may constitute a right of publicity violation.
· Trade secrets: Refers to confidential and proprietary information that provides a competitive advantage to its owner.
How do I protect my IP?
When launching an e-commerce brand, it is essential to create many elements of IP. These elements can include logos, brand names, slogans, product descriptions, product showcase videos, and more. Protecting IP in the digital world has always been challenging, and the rise of generative AI, IP infringements and counterfeit production at scale has exasperated.
Whenever a piece of unique content is produced, some levels of protection automatically apply upon creation. So, the best defence against IP infringement is to be vigilant in identifying cases of misuse and acting upon them accordingly with legal tools such as cease and desist letters and other legal actions.
Regarding detecting and enforcing IP infringement products sold on eCommerce marketplaces, major retailers like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart offer IP portals access to brands via their respective IP solutions like Amazon Brand Registry, eBay Vero, Walmart Brand Portal, etc.
For example, the Amazon IP Accelerator program assists with patent searches, trademark searches, copyright registration, licensing agreements, trade secrets protections, and more.
Additionally, the Accelerator provides resources such as access to IP professionals who can provide legal advice on IP matters. Brands can also use the program to seek guidance on how to structure licensing agreements for the use of their IP or guidance on how to protect products with a patent.
The bottom line
So far, the 2020s have witnessed a technological surge that has presented e-commerce brand owners with many tools to help grow and scale their businesses. Although these tools are handy, they allow nefarious actors to commit IP infringements more efficiently than ever.
While essential brand protection tools such as the Amazon IP Accelerator provide a foundation for safeguarding e-commerce brands, addressing evolving threats posed by tech-savvy bad actors requires additional measures. To thrive in e-commerce, online brand protection software like GreyScout becomes vitally important.
Integrated with Amazon’s Brand Registry, GreyScout actively monitors online marketplaces, swiftly detecting grey market and illicit activities to safeguard your brand reputation from potential harm proactively.
