Automated monitoring is overenforcement and shuts down small business

In such cases, it is important to distinguish between abusive trademark enforcement and enforcement that seeks to execute legitimate trademark rights. 180 While the latter goal is clearly deserving of support, the former scenario - overenforcement - has a deleterious effect on startups and smaller platforms that may lack the resources to respond properly to a dispute. In such situations, the assertion of overbroad trademark rights, facilitated by an overreliance on automated systems of enforcement, may produce false positives without significant human oversight.181 In some cases, these complaints can be sent by a rightsholder who uses these notices to undermine a competitor or to censor critical commentary. 182 For example, a recent filing noted an incident where a political action committee requested a takedown of material that parodied Hilary Clinton's campaign logo.183 Or a similar situation where another candidate, Ben Carson, requested takedown requests regarding merchandise that used Carson's name on items relating to his candidacy.184 Often, these claims involve a mixture of trademark and copyright claims, further muddying the waters of potential defenses, but they can often involve politically oriented speech worthy of protection. 185 The collective effect of these claims, however, limits the potential circulation of the free flow of information and ideas, further amplifying how smaller platforms become implicated in a system of overbroad (and inconsistent) regulation.