We have heard time and time again that the internet has changed everything, from how we communicate, shop, or advertise and that is all true – of course, to an extent. So, for marketing purposes, credibility, visibility on the market and client trust reasons and driven by the growing demand for having an online presence, more and more businesses go digital. In fact, it has become more than imperious to have an online presence, a company`s website being like a business card. Basically, if you do not have a website, you do not exist on the market.

Having a website means that it can help you, besides generating business and sales, to get in touch with potential leads, it can steadily increase the value of the company`s brand and target specific audiences. However, when going digital, the website is exposing many businesses to cyber-attacks that oftentimes are related to data privacy, with the threat exponentially growing as to become a menace to intellectual property (IP) as well.

Intellectual property in the context of cybercriminal activity

The images, articles, blog content, products and services descriptions, domain name, website design and brand logo, all are collaterals exposed on your website and all related to some kind of IP rights. Businesses have invested a great amount of money and time into their trademarks and learned the hard way about the crippling impact of dealing with IP infringement deriving from website cloning, spoofing, and phishing. According to a Deloitte paper, data is the new trending web currency, meaning that cybercriminals are targeting all data, from IP to personal, financial to health data, that are being monetized through the dark web or even cryptocurrencies. In the age of internet, more and more companies deal with copyright and trademark infringement issues.

There is website cloning, referring to the process of creating a copy or a replica of an already existing website, including the design, content, and any other associated creative features (brand name, logo, images, text, etc.) and code. Pretty much any website can be copied and there is a growing trend pointing towards the rise of cybercriminal activities and the sophistication of the means employed, with many online shopping and banking websites that rank high in Google search being targeted. Only think of all the website design tools that mostly use open source, making it easier for cybercriminals to replicate websites.

Another IP issue businesses are facing is website spoofing meaning that websites are being spoofed to look a lot like the authentic ones, sometimes using a very similar URL address and design, making it harder for users to differentiate. The bogus website is usually either infested with malware that might steal login details or it contains hyperlink that redirects you to an infested page and usually part of a phishing attack scheme.

And then, there is phishing, a trademark infringement and cybersecurity issue that many businesses face, through which victims are induced to reveal sensitive personal and financial information, such as banking details, being deceived by legitimate looking websites that fraudulently use another website`s trademark. For example, you might receive an email from your bank (or at least what is seems like your bank), with the bank`s trademark and signature, notifying you that your password has expired, that there is unusual activity associated with your account, asking you to either change your password or verify your account. If you click on any of the hyperlinks, the phisher has now access to your account and personal data and might steal your funds or ask for a ransom.

The consequences of cyberattacks, besides disrupting business and having to deal with IP infringement, go even further as to affect the value of the trademark and company reputation, damage the relationship with the customer, especially in the event that they end up suffering data and financial losses, alongside the public relations disruption on the market.

Trademark Policing

Your brand is the synonym of your reputation and sometimes having it registered is not enough to protect your assets and cybercriminal activities are directly challenging IP rights in that sense. If you thought that you are safe because your IP rights are protected, think again. So, are you fully equipped to take legal action if your website`s IP is stolen or hijacked?

There are means of keeping track of the internet presence of your website and your IP rights, in extenso. To deter trademark infringement, you need to police against the unauthorized use of similar or copied trademarks and to actively make sure you enforce your acquired rights:

(1) you could entrust IP consultants alongside a watch service that could monitor any infringing use of your trademark could prove an effective tool that track trademark filing, internet presence, domain and social media use, as they could alert business owners on potential conflicts.

(2) you should educate customers and employees on the means used by cybercriminals so they could be aware in the event of phishing, cloning or spoofing.

(3) you need to make sure that you are ready to send out notices to the infringers prior to the take-down notices and proceeding to litigation.

Conclusion

As blunt as it might sound, a business lives or dies based on the IP it holds and protects. Thus, as long as a business has online presence, website and IP owners should be prepared to take all precautionary measures to protect their investment and their reputation, especially since cybercrimes have become more common and intricate.