Intellectual Property Rights Claims

Intellectual Property Lawsuits and Internet Companies

“Companies in the Internet, technology and media industries own large numbers of patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, and frequently enter into litigation based on allegations of infringement, misappropriation or other violations of intellectual property or other rights.” (1)

“Many companies in these industries … have substantially larger patent and intellectual property portfolios than (other companies), which could make (the later) a target for litigation as (the later) may not be able to assert counterclaims against parties that sue … for patent, or other intellectual property infringement. In addition, various “non-practicing entities” that own patents and other intellectual property rights often attempt to aggressively assert claims in order to extract value from technology companies.” (2)

“Any claim or litigation alleging that (companies) have infringed or otherwise violated intellectual property or other rights of third parties, with or without merit, and whether or not settled out of court or determined in (these companies) favor, could be time-consuming and costly to address and resolve, and could divert the time and attention of … management and technical personnel.” (3)

Notes

1. Twitter, 2014 Annual Report
2. Id.
3. Id.

See Also

Privacy
Intellectual Property
World Intellectual Property Organization
World Intellectual Property Organization: Copyright Treaty
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
Data Protection
Industrial Property
Intelectual property international conventions
Community Property
Revision of the European Patent Convention
European Patent System