Protecting your products and intellectual property (IP) against piracy is something every business should place major emphasis on.
Here’s why, and what you can do to protect your brand, business reputation and loss of revenue that piracy creates.
How serious is product & IP Piracy?
The short answer here is it is very serious.
It needs to be understood that piracy is a global “industry” and affects all business channels.
As the availability of bandwidth grows and new online users increase in numbers this continues to fuel easier, faster and completely expected online access from a wide range of devices.
Gone are the days when those new to the online world were in awe of what was possible. The new generation of internet users is fully geared up for an instant, always-on access.
This means that Peer-to-Peer networks, websites offering the A-Z of content and products along with the rapidly growing popularity of streaming services leave your products and IP open to abuse from unscrupulous pirates.
You MUST stay on top of the latest piracy trends:
One thing we should all be sure about is that online trends can change with alarming rapidity. While this should be seen as a positive and can certainly open up new business opportunities, there is also the other side of the coin; piracy opportunities are mushrooming.
This means having in place a strategy that protects your copyrights, IP and brand reputation is essential if you are to maintain and increase healthy online revenues.
Whether you are just entering the online business world or reviewing a current anti-piracy strategy please take the following ‘best practice’ requirements into consideration:
- Assess and determine the extent of your piracy issues and what enforcement and/or litigation options are available to you.
- Evaluate and understand enforcement strategies that are most effective for the infringements you need to deal with.
- If, after assessing the above 2 points you feel your strategy is outdated then update it in line with changing trends.
- Place a strong emphasis on scaling-up your enforcement efforts. Content and IP thieves are very good at avoiding enforcement action and while DMCA notices are an absolutely essential part of your anti-piracy armoury it must be realised that they are not always enough to stop the most stubborn of offenders.
By raising your game, you will be in a stronger position to put further pressure on these pirates and react in a faster, more positive way when new infringements occur.
Analyse piracy data closely. This will provide a wealth of information and can be used to your advantage by providing new business insight.
Consider the advantages of professional assistance:
Those businesses who do not have anti-piracy expertise within their workforce should strongly consider availing of the services offered by a specialist 3rd party anti-piracy company.
These professional companies make it their business to protect your business.
They have qualified personnel in place, a raft of the most effective anti-piracy tools, and highly effective and persuasive methods when it comes to closing down piracy avenues.
Such a partnership will go a long way to ensuring you are protecting your products and intellectual property (IP) against piracy. For more information check out www.onsist.com.