“THE EXPLOSION OF SEARCH MARKETING–LIKE the rise of the business Internet itself–is transforming everything it touches. So it’s no surprise that now search is having a major impact on the world of trademark law. What changes does your company need to be aware of? And what can you do to protect your valuable intellectual property assets?
The Internet Reinvents Intellectual Property
In many ways, the Internet seems almost designed to facilitate trademark infringement. Both text and graphical elements are easy to copy and “repurpose.” Identity is easy to conceal. Theft can occur very quietly, and both evidence and culprits can disappear with little trace. In addition, the ease of forming partnerships practically assures trademarks will appear in contexts beyond those originally planned for.
Trademark infringement has been an issue since the Web’s earliest days. Industrious would-be entrepreneurs cybersquatted on corporate domain names, hoping for lucrative payouts that in most cases never came (intellectual property laws were interpreted and in some cases rewritten to protect rightful trademark owners). ”
It is neither cliche nor hokey to say that we are at the beginning of a new era of information and rules governing the information we see. And given the international aspect of the net it becomes more challenging to monitor/govern how things work.
The full article is worth a read.
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