Intellectual property (IP) is one of the cornerstones of brand identity in the modern economy. From patented inventions to iconic logos and groundbreaking designs, IP assets drive economic growth, encourage entrepreneurial risk-taking, and establish competitive advantages for businesses.
However, IP infringement—the unauthorised use of protected intellectual property—poses significant risks to creators, brands, and the broader economy. Exploiting IP owners’ intellectual property rights impacts their legal protections while diminishing the innovation that drives business growth, profitability, and productivity.
Intellectual property infringement is known to cost billions of dollars each year across the world. According to the estimates of the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property, annual costs from IP loss can fall between $225 billion and $600 billion.
Read on to explore some leading examples of intellectual property infringement.
What Do IP Infringements Mean?
IP infringement refers to the unauthorised use, violation, reproduction, breach, or exploitation of someone else’s intellectual property rights. These violations undermine the rights of creators and innovators, potentially leading to financial losses, reputational damage, and stunted innovation.
Intellectual property is among the most significant assets any brand possesses, but these different forms of IP infringements can reduce the perks that IP owners avail of from their innovations:
- Trademark infringement
- Patent infringement
- Copyright infringement
- Trade secrets misappropriation
- Industrial design violation
4 Major IP Infringements in Recent Years
Intellectual property rights are issued to safeguard companies’ ideas, discoveries, products, services, and more. These rights ensure brands can profit from their operations without worrying about replication or unlawful use. However, IP infringements are a leading problem that can impact an organisation’s bottom line, leading to financial losses and legal ramifications.
In this section, we have discussed the top methods in which intellectual property rights are violated and real-life examples of listed IP infringements:
1. Trademark Infringement
Trademarks represent a company’s identity and guarantee the authenticity of its products. They offer brand protection by safeguarding an enterprise’s identifying features, such as its brand name or symbols like logos. A business registers trademarks to differentiate itself from its competition and create brand equity.
However, trademarks are commonly violated where counterfeiting is a prevalent problem. What’s meant by trademark infringement? Infringement occurs when another entity uses a brand’s symbol without authorisation, creating confusion among consumers about the trademark’s source, affiliation, or actual ownership.
a. Academy Awards vs. GoDaddy
The Academy Awards and GoDaddy (domain retailer) were in a five-year legal battle because of ‘cybersquatting’ issues. This trademark infringement case was filed in 2010, with the Academy Awards alleging that due to GoDaddy’s decision of allowing customers to purchase ‘confusingly’ similar domain names, like 2011Oscars.com, profit could be earned from people who wanted to ‘park’ on these domains and collect revenue.
Initially, it was demonstrated by the Academy in the court that 57 domains were sold by GoDaddy, which had the potential of causing confusion. Ultimately, it was ruled that GoDaddy didn’t act in bad faith and was protected as an intermediary under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.
b. Starbucks Vs. Freddocino
Starbucks filed a lawsuit against the parent company of New York-based Coffee Culture Café for introducing a drink named the ‘Freddocino.” The former company alleged that the drink appears just like the ‘Frappucino’ and that the name’s structure contains enough similarities to cause confusion among consumers and reduce Starbucks’ brand equity.
The trademark for the term ‘Frappucino’ is owned by Starbucks. But Starbucks alleged that the Coffee Culture Café had created deceptive packaging to make it look like their drink ‘Freddocino’ is trademarked when it’s not.
Starbucks successfully settled the case out of court in its favour, with the Coffee Culture Café agreeing to stop using the name ‘Freddocino’ for their drink.
2. Copyright Infringement
Original artistic work, be it literature, music, art, songs, writing, photos, or software, enriches society, and copyright is meant to protect these creative works. Violations occur when these works are used without authorisation. Now that copyright is tangible, copyright infringement is usually a clearer-cut violation.
a. Apple vs Microsoft
In 1988, two tech giants- Apple and Microsoft squared off in the court.
A lawsuit was filed by Apple against Microsoft in 1988, shortly after the launch of Windows 2.0, a significant update to the original version. Apple alleged that Microsoft had plagiarised the graphical user interface found on the Macintosh system without any license or permission.
However, it was found that Apple granted Microsoft its permission to use Macintosh’s design elements in Windows. The mystery is that, for some reason, Apple’s legal department didn’t receive the memo after the Windows 2.0 release. The sudden legal proceedings took aback Apple and, thus, missed out on sensing a preemptive warning or threat.
Due to all this misunderstanding, the judge ruled in favour of Microsoft. Although Apple attempted to appeal the decision several times, it was of no use.
b. Vanilla Ice vs David Bowie & Queen
Vanilla Ice’s ‘Ice Ice Baby’ was the first hip-hop single to rank number one on the Billboard Hot 100. However, it sampled the bass lines from David Bowie & Queen’s hit song ‘Under Pressure.’
David Bowie & Queen filed a lawsuit against Vanilla alleging the unauthorised use of their song by claiming that the latter had added a single note to the riff’s end to make it more unique, but it wasn’t sufficient.
The case was settled out of the court, with David Bowie & Queen receiving songwriting credit.
3. Trade Secrets Misappropriation
Trade secrets are another intellectual property that companies don’t make public. They represent the organisation’s right to confidential information that is of a competitive nature. However, such type of covert information is considered a trade secret only if it has an economic value.
So, what information can be the company’s trade secrets? They can comprise know-how such as recipes, design patterns, formulations, computer programs, and processes that give a brand a competitive advantage. Usually, companies use Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) to protect their proprietary information.
However, sometimes, enterprises’ trade secrets are exposed, causing financial and reputational damage. Basically, trade secrets misappropriation involves the theft or unauthorised disclosure of an organisation’s proprietary information.
a. Coca-Cola
In 2006, Coca-Cola encountered a scare when many employees were accused of attempting to sell the company’s trade secrets to its direct competitor, PepsiCo. The trade secrets included key information about the enterprise’s upcoming product launches and marketing approaches.
Coca-Cola immediately informed the FBI, which led to several arrests. Hence, the company managed to protect its trade secrets.
b. Apple
In 2017, Apple experienced a trade secret breach when an engineer named Xiaolang Zhang stole the company’s confidential files about its autonomic vehicle project before planning to work in a Chinese self-driving car startup.
Due to Apple’s swift action, the company managed to retrieve the stolen data, and Zhang was subsequently arrested.
4. Industrial Design Violation
Industrial design is among the significant intellectual property rights that protect the visuals and products of any design, but not only within the framework of moral theory.
Generally, industrial design is only a naked-eye view of any product or symbol, like logos. But in the legal language, this definition involves features, design, pattern, form, composition of lines, ornament, colours applied to the product or symbol, and more.
Violations occur when competitors replicate these industrial designs without authorisation. These infringements can significantly affect the original creators' market share and brand identity.
a. Warner Brothers vs. Whitmill
After enjoying the success of Hangover 2, Warner Brothers encountered a legal battle against tattoo artist S. Victor Whitmill.
According to Whitmill, the film and its promotional materials used his tattoo design without giving him credit or seeking his permission. And Warner Brothers argued that the design they used fell under the ‘fair use’ policy. However, Whitmill wasn’t convinced and pressed on and asked for a preliminary injunction to halt the movie’s release.
Although the injunction was denied, it was acknowledged that Whitmill has a strong case and, thus, can continue the lawsuit. Ultimately, both parties settled out of court, and the film was released as planned.
b. David Anasagasti vs. American Eagle Outfitters
David Anasagasti, a Miami street artist, filed a lawsuit against American Eagle Outfitters in 2014 for using his signature droopy eye design in their marketing campaigns without seeking any permission.
The infringement took place when the company featured Anasagasti’s work in an ad’s background, with a model holding a spray paint can in such a way that it implied he was the artist. In addition, to promote a new store in Colombia, American Eagle Outfitters was found to invite local street artists to copy Anasagsati’s design and add it to the firm’s logo on top.
Both parties settled the lawsuit out of court, with American Eagle Outfitters paying Anasagasti an undisclosed amount.
Concluding Thoughts
Regardless of your company’s size, facing the problem of IP infringement can bring many challenges, from financial losses to potential harm to your brand’s public image. Therefore, tackling IP infringement demands proactive measures so that you can protect your company's rights and maintain brand integrity.
When planning to fight against IP infringement head-on, consider partnering with Acviss. Truviss by Acviss is an online brand protection tool that can provide a dashboard to key in what products you want to track and protect. It will help you track similar products, domains, and apps, protecting your company from intellectual property violations. Connect with us today and get your IP secured across markets.
