Taking a stand: tackling online infringement

01-04-2012

IP infringement on the Internet continues to worry IP owners and professionals. WIPR takes a look at online advertising and how it can be targeted to help prevent infringement.

Online intellectual property infringement is generally accepted to be getting worse. This is reflected in the flurry of activity throughout 2011 and early in 2012: legislation was mooted (the Stop Online Piracy Act), and in some cases passed (the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement), to help tackle it, and websites such as Megaupload were closed, its domains seized and its owner Kim Dotcom arrested in a bid to stop it.

While legislators and enforcement agencies do their part, businesses should be acting decisively to protect and enforce their IP online.

Understanding the Internet and its many components can go a long way to helping IP owners identify the best methods available to them. The unprecedented access to consumers that the Internet provides has pushed businesses into online advertising. Consumer trends, including viewing habits, can be quantified and documented, and the ‘click’ allows advertisers to interact with consumers in a way that they never have before.


IP infringement, online, advertising

WIPR