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[Sonia K, Leah Chan, 2018, Scholarly Commons @ UNLV Boyd Law, “Platform Law and the Brand Enterprise”, https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?params=/context/facpub/article/2394/&path_info=Platform_Law_and_the_Brand_Enterprise.pdf, accessed 7/10/2024, LR]

In the platform enterprise, trademarks function just like other trademarks in the sense that they serve informational and economic functions.4 4 By enabling consumers to trust that their experience of a certain product can be consistently associated with a particular trademark, trademarks lower consumer search costs. 4 5 Yet trademarks play an even more central role in platform entrepreneurship because they enable consumers to identify clusters of marks with a particular platform, thereby facilitating the reduction of transaction costs that are essential to a platform's success. For example, with the Parking Panda platform, both sets of marks, the Parking Panda's and the parking companies', inform consumers that their parking experience will be similar to their previous experiences, thereby enabling purchasers to rely on their previous decisions.

[Gary,07/13/2023, American Public University, “What Is Intellectual Property Law? And Why Does it Matter?”, https://www.apu.apus.edu/area-of-study/security-and-global-studies/resources/what-is-intellectual-property-law/#:~:text=IP%20Laws,variety%20of%20products%20and%20services, accessed 7/11/2024, LR]

Intellectual Property Law and Consumer Awareness

[Gary,07/13/2023, American Public University, “What Is Intellectual Property Law? And Why Does it Matter?”, https://www.apu.apus.edu/area-of-study/security-and-global-studies/resources/what-is-intellectual-property-law/#:~:text=IP%20Laws,variety%20of%20products%20and%20services, accessed 7/11/2024, LR]

The Durability of Trademarks and Their Impact

[Austin, S. Economics, B.A. Philosophy, Syracuse University, 10/23, Boston University Law Review, “INCORPORATING A DEPOSIT MECHANISM INTO THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT TO FIGHT ONLINE COUNTERFEITING IN E-COMMERCE,” https://www.bu.edu/bulawreview/files/2023/10/CHURCH.pdf, accessed: 07/11/2024, shl]

CONCLUSION

[Rachel, 8/2/2022, Forbes, “The Impact Of Fakes And How To Combat Them”, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/02/08/the-impact-of-fakes-and-how-to-combat-them/, accessed 7/8/2024, LR]

In the last decade, counterfeits have become a major problem for businesses across the world, with recent figures revealing that trade-in fake goods now accounts for 2.5% of world trade every year, the equivalent of $464 billion.

[Rachel, 5/5/2023, Financial Times, “Letter: Remember, counterfeiting is not a victimless crime”, https://www.ft.com/content/a32e063d-a117-477e-903c-be637d7a74b7, accessed 7/8/2024, LR]

Annachiara Biondi’s article “Why Gen Z is cool with counterfeits” (Life & Arts, April 29) ignores the key fact that counterfeiting is not a victimless crime.

[Spencer, 6/10/2019, CNBC, “US small businesses are fighting an uphill battle against counterfeiters in China: ‘It’s like whack-a-mole’”, https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/06/how-us-small-businesses-are-fighting-counterfeiting-in-china.html, accessed 7/8/2024, LR]

When Ruth Brons has a break between teaching her students in New Jersey how to play the violin, she’s trying to find new ways to defend her small business against counterfeiters thousands of miles away in China.

[Spencer, 6/10/2019, CNBC, “US small businesses are fighting an uphill battle against counterfeiters in China: ‘It’s like whack-a-mole’”, https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/06/how-us-small-businesses-are-fighting-counterfeiting-in-china.html, accessed 7/8/2024, LR]

Lax enforcement

[Robert, 29/9/2021, NC State Supply Chain Resource Cooperative, “Counterfeiting is on the rise, and projected to exceed $3 trillion in 2022”, https://scm.ncsu.edu/scm-articles/article/counterfeiting-is-on-the-rise-projected-to-exceed-3-trillion-in-2022, accessed 7/8/2024, LR]

In a recent article published by The Wire China, I was interviewed on the challenges of e-commerce giant Amazon to contain counterfeit products on its website. Counterfeit products are commonly thought to be a problem in niche industries, including luxury handbags and apparel, music and DVD movies, running shoes, jewelry, and of course, Rolex Watches. A stroll down Canal Street in New York City is filled with vendors hawking their counterfeit goods. How bad can the problem be? And unless you aren’t in these industries, then what is the worry?

[Rachel, 8/2/2022, Forbes, “The Impact Of Fakes And How To Combat Them”, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/02/08/the-impact-of-fakes-and-how-to-combat-them/, accessed 7/8/2024, LR]

Combating Counterfeits

[Sonia K, Leah Chan, 2018, Scholarly Commons @ UNLV Boyd Law, “Platform Law and the Brand Enterprise”, https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?params=/context/facpub/article/2394/&path_info=Platform_Law_and_the_Brand_Enterprise.pdf, accessed 7/10/2024, LR]

The benefits of a platform economy are manifold. The trend toward modularity (which Yochai Benkler describes as "granularity") transforms ordinary exchanges into opportunities for market-based capitalism, reducing barriers to entry, increasing dynamism and precision in pricing and services.14 Platforms can reduce overall prices for consumers because of the lowered transaction and overhead costs they are associated with by connecting consumers with producers more directly and in real-time.' 5 They enable entities to take advantage of underutilized assets, like space, and provide access to services that may have previously been unavailable.1 6 They can improve the consumer experience by offering new services that others have failed to offer.' 7 Finally, they can utilize systems to track ratings and reputation, thereby ensuring trust between the consumer and the service provider. 8 Collectively, platforms also underscore a significant shift from theories of ownership and property; the "consumption culture" that we inhabit becomes replaced with a focus on access instead.' 9 "Owning a car," Lobel writes, "is not as important as the ability to use one when needed." 2 0

Investment in brands drives the allocation of resources in our economy. It increases competition, pushes firms to innovate, and decreases asymmetries in the market leading to a higher level of economic development.

Investment in brands and intangibles has seen an increase in the last fifteen years, especially in advanced economies such as the EU and the US. The US is a pioneer when we talk about investment in brands, whereas the EU is still investing a higher share of GDP in tangible assets. Differences within the European Union are also significant. Size seems to matter. Larger economies usually invest less in brands, whereas relatively smaller economies invest more. Moreover, smaller economies tend to “spend” more on branding compared to bigger ones.

[Gary, 7/13/2023, American Public University, “What Is Intellectual Property Law? And Why Does it Matter?”, https://www.apu.apus.edu/area-of-study/security-and-global-studies/resources/what-is-intellectual-property-law/#:~:text=IP%20Laws,variety%20of%20products%20and%20services, accessed 7/11/2024, LR]

How Copyrights Support Economic Rights and Fine Arts

[Ryan Cooper, 6-6-23, American Prospect managing editor and The Week national correspondent, The American Prospect, “How Big Pharma Rigged the Patent System,” , accessed: 7-7-24, ES]

What should be done about this? Feldman suggests that one simple step would be to clarify the meaning of “non-obviousness” in U.S. patent law. To obtain a patent, one must demonstrate that the invention is something that required skill and effort to produce. There is a lot of legislation in this area, as well as a large body of case law, the details of which are beyond the scope of this article. But clearly it is far too easy to get a drug patent in this country, as shown by how many fewer patents are awarded in the European Union. In the U.S., companies can get patents on stone obvious ideas like “an extended-release formula” that have been well known for decades. The USPTO could also be better funded; its small staff is frequently overwhelmed by drug companies’ blizzard of highly technical filings. The FDA, which has many more medical specialists, might also be assigned to help in this area.

[Santosh Ganesh, 5-11-24, Global Council for the Promotion of International Trade director, LinkedIn, “The High Cost of Frivolous Patent Suits: Stifling Innovation or Protecting Rights?,” , accessed: 7-9-24, ES]

Technology-Driven Solutions: AI-powered tools can analyze vast patent databases to identify potentially weak claims asserted by patent trolls. This can empower companies to defend themselves more effectively, according to a 2022 study by IBM, which found that AI-assisted legal research can reduce litigation costs by up to 50%.

[Emily G. Blevins, 8-3-22, Congressional Research Service Science and Technology Policy Analyst, Congressional Research Service, “Patents and Innovation Policy,” , accessed: 7-9-24, ES]

One USPTO study demonstrated that limiting the scope of what is considered patent-eligible subject matter may increase uncertainty for innovators using the patent system. This could serve as an impediment to innovation given that economic research has shown that greater levels of uncertainty may reduce investments.47 Additionally, the study concluded

[Emily G. Blevins, 8-3-22, Congressional Research Service Science and Technology Policy Analyst, Congressional Research Service, “Patents and Innovation Policy,” , accessed: 7-9-24, ES]]

In addition, an inconsistent application of eligibility standards might introduce enough uncertainty to the patent process that investors may view the potential financial rewards of securing patent rights as too risky to justify their investments. Such inconsistencies could have negative effects on innovation. As Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, asserted in 2022, “innovation cannot thrive in uncertainty.”

[Emily G. Blevins and Kevin J. Hickey, 1-3-24, Emily is an Congressional Research Service Science and Technology Policy Analyst and Kevin is a Congressional Research Service legislative attorney, Congressional Research Service, “Patent-Eligible Subject Matter Reform: An Overview,” , accessed: 7-9-24, ES]

Innovation in emerging technology areas may face unique challenges because of the restricted scope of patent-eligible subject matter, as well as the variability in how such standards are interpreted by patent examiners and the courts. For example, one area of policy concern relates to patent-eligible subject matter standards as they apply to innovations in AI. Though the number of patent applications pertaining to AI has increased over the past 10 years, some stakeholders have reported concern that AI inventions are at risk of patent ineligibility under the current framework because “they may be characterized as methods of organizing human activity, mental processes, or mathematical concepts.”

[Emily G. Blevins and Kevin J. Hickey, 1-3-24, Emily is an Congressional Research Service Science and Technology Policy Analyst and Kevin is a Congressional Research Service legislative attorney, Congressional Research Service, “Patent-Eligible Subject Matter Reform: An Overview,” , accessed: 7-9-24, ES]

Other respondents reported negative effects on innovation as a result of the expansion of ineligible subject matter, especially in the life sciences sector. Some of these groups further warned of potential negative implications for the United States’ position as a global leader in innovation. For example, one representative of the biotechnology industry stated that current interpretations of patent subject matter eligibility standards had jeopardized the industry’s ability to develop and deliver “precision medicine, pharmaceutical treatments, and diagnostics” to patients.

[Nick Skillicorn, ideatovalue.com chief editor and founder, 8-31-16, Inc., “How the Current Patent System Actually Hurts Inventorsm,” , accessed: 7-11-24, ES]

Most technology nowadays is built on versions which came before it. Therefore, it is extremely unlikely that a company will come up with an innovation that itself doesn't rely on other technology which itself has been patented.