Social media platforms have been part of the Internet landscape for more than a decade but it’s only in the latest years, after a staggering growth, that they’ve earned a central role in our society with a tremendous impact on communication, marketing and commerce.
The ability of these platforms to develop new tools and features explains just a part of this growth whereas also external occurrences, like the increasing usage of mobile devices (also in underserved markets) or the recent COVID-19 pandemic which has boosted the rate of social commerce use by more than 30%, have had a relevant impact in the propagation and success of social media.
Social networks are estimated to reach 4 billion users in 2022, with market leader Facebook which can count on almost 3 billion monthly active users worldwide. Different studies estimate that more than 80% of the population in the United States has one (or more) social media profile and more than 50% of the global population uses social networks.
Today, Facebook and Instagram – among others – provide also an important shopping window for the general public. Consumers’ ability to access directly an almost limitless array of products has never been so easy and, viceversa, the opportunity given to brands to reach the desired audience worldwide has never seen so few obstacles.
As technical and social advancements offer new opportunities for consumers and brands, the same is true for counterfeiters and trademark violators. Undeniably, a new front in the online brand protection battlefield (following the domain name system and the online marketplaces) is nowadays represented by social media. Counterfeiters have always shown a prompt capacity in leveraging technological advances related to the Internet as well as following where the crowd was going. But the popularity of these platforms cannot, by itself, explain why an always increasing number of IP related violations are being carried out on social media.
Further elements which describe how these environments work must be taken into account. Most of these social media platforms offer the opportunity to reach a multitude of people worldwide in a matter of clicks. The entrance in the “arena” is fast and easy. Communication can be direct, without intermediations, and it can be both public and private. Moreover, there are no seller screening processes, no feedback systems which are now typical of marketplaces where trust plays a crucial role between anonymous users, no payment protection systems and low levels of traceability. All the above create a fruitful environment where unlawful activities can be conducted at the expenses of consumers and brand owners which need to adapt their enforcement efforts.
The range of possible violations is quite broad, as broad is the type of content that social media platforms may host. The offering of counterfeits is just the most blatant of cases but infringements may occur in profile names and images (i.e. avatars), single posts (which in turn can consist of text, images and videos, or a combination of these) or ads. Moreover, the presence of different levels of communication, some of which are completely private (such as direct messages between users) or available only to closed groups, and ephemeral content (temporary posts such as the Instagram stories which usually disappear after 24 hours, leaving no trace at all) pose new challenges and objective limits to the efforts of brand owners, but it is clear that monitoring social media platforms has become a crucial activity in an online brand protection perspective.
Even more so considering that enforcement activities in these social media platforms are possible and therefore a prompt detection can result in an equally rapid removal of the infringing content. Facebook and Instagram for instance, both owned by Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Facebook, Inc.) share the same set of policies that regulate the protection of IP rights in its platforms. The applicable Terms of Service do not allow posting content that violates third parties’ IP rights, including copyright and trademark. As the latter is concerned, the current policies describe the occurrence of a trademark infringement when three conditions are met:
- a person uses the trademark of a third party (or a similar trademark) without permission;
- that person’s use is in commerce, meaning that it’s done in connection with the sale or promotion of goods or services; and
- that use is likely to confuse consumers about the source, endorsement or affiliation of the person’s goods or services.
Both Facebook and Instagram offer trademark owners, or their authorized representatives, the possibility of filing an online claim of trademark infringement which is generally handled and solved in very short time and the result of which, in case of success, is the deletion of the infringing content (whether a single post or an entire account, according to the specific case at issue).
Social media have gained unprecedented popularity and now play a crucial role in our everyday lives. Whether useful tools for communication and work or a blatant invasion of personal privacy, they have nevertheless created new opportunities and they have shaped contemporary living and habits. All the above have also been followed by a new set of possible threats and risks which consumers need to be aware of and, most importantly, trademark owners need to consider in order to promptly adjust their brand protection strategies.
To this end, IP Twins offers a wide array of services aimed at the detection of possible online infringements – social media platforms included – and may assist you also in the following enforcement activities required with takedowns and complaint filing, according to your specific needs.
