Innovation fuels progress, powers industries, and improves human life. But what if intellectual property (IP) is no longer a means to protection and expansion but rather a weapon? While patents, trademarks, and copyrights were meant to protect creativity, they are now being employed in strategic warfare—sometimes suppressing innovation rather than promoting it.

Let’s look at the less publicized methods in which IP can be used aggressively and how companies can work around these issues.

1. Patent Trolls: The Innovation Parasites

All patent owners are not necessarily innovators. Patent trolls or Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs) buy patents only to sue companies for infringing on them unknowingly. They do not develop products or services—they make money through lawsuits.

• Why It’s a Problem: Startups and small businesses will settle out of court, even when they have a good case, to save money on legal fees.
• Case Study: One large smartphone manufacturer once settled with a company that had never made a single phone but owned sweeping, ambiguous patents on touchscreen gestures.
• The Solution: Refining patent laws to keep vague or too broad patents from being used as weapons in the courtroom.

2. Trademark Wars: Claiming Words and Colors

Major brands have trademarked popular words, phrases, and even colors, keeping their competitors from using them—even across non-related markets.

• Example 1: A popular fast-food chain fiercely guards its trademark on an ordinary Scottish surname, even against small companies using it for unrelated products.
• Example 2: One fashion house tried years ago to trademark a particular color of red and sue any shoe designer who worked with a color close to that.
• The Problem: Overreaching trademarks limit fair competition and even restrict how language is used in marketing and branding.

3. Copyright Strikes: The Digital Content Battlefield

In the digital era, copyright acts have turned into a means to suppress content as opposed to shielding it.

• YouTube Takedown Abuse: Big companies lodge automatic copyright strikes against individual creators—even if the work is fair use.
• Artificial Intelligence vs. Artists: AI-created content is raising questions about ownership of copyrights. If an AI has been trained on copyrighted content, does the created work belong to the creator of the AI or the original creators?
• Meme Culture in Jeopardy: Certain companies try to copyright popular memes, attempting to define how internet culture is shared.

4. The Hidden Monopoly: Evergreening in Pharma

Pharma firms perpetuate their monopoly on life-saving medications by slightly modifying existing formulas and re-patenting them—evergreening.

• Effect: This maintains the high cost of drugs and inhibits generic firms from manufacturing cheap substitutes.
• Example: A popular drug for cardiovascular diseases was subtly modified to lengthen its patent by another 20 years, maintaining artificially inflated prices.
• What Must Change? More stringent regulations on what is considered a “new” drug patent.

How Businesses Can Protect Themselves

• IP Vigilance: Startups and inventors need to conduct exhaustive patent and trademark searches prior to product launches.
• Fair IP Practices: Companies must concentrate on innovation-led protection, not litigation-led gains.
• Legal Safeguards: Governments and international institutions need to stop IP abuse by implementing reforms and reasonable use exceptions.

Final Thoughts: IP Should Empower, Not Suppress

Intellectual property must promote creativity, not suppress it. While companies need to safeguard their innovations, ethical standards must inform IP enforcement. By remaining vigilant about how IP laws are applied and abused, companies can innovate without restriction while safeguarding themselves against predatory practices.

Techmatch assists companies in securing and navigating intellectual property complexities. Get in touch with us today and have your IP work for you, and not against you.