MOU on Online Advertising and Intellectual Property Rights
As online advertising plays an important role in the E-commerce era and it may link to intellectual property (IP) infringement. To prevent IP infringement on the internet, the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), together with the right owners, business operators and associations related to advertising, initiated the Memorandum of Understanding on Online Advertising and Intellectual Property Rights (MOU). The signing ceremony was held on 28 October 2022 at the Ministry of Commerce.
The purposes of the MOU include:
- Encouraging cooperation for protection of IP infringement on the internet between the DIP, right owners, business operators and associations related to advertising;
- Discouraging advertising of counterfeit goods/services, or production or dissemination of advertising contents that infringe others’ IP rights on the internet;
- Discouraging commercial advertisement on websites or applications that infringe others’ IP rights in order to obstruct financial flow of the infringing websites or applications.
Although the MOU is not legally binding on the signatory parties, it asks for the cooperation of the signatory parties which include, among others,
- Discourage production of contents that infringe others’ IP right;
- Promote the MOU on the websites to notify their partners/clients on the existence of the MOU;
- Exchange information under the MOU with the signatory parties;
- Take down the infringing contents from the websites or applications upon receiving the notice;
- Coordinate among the signatory parties in relation to IP.
After signing the MOU, it remains to be seen how this MOU will help obstructing the growth of online infringement.
Author: Praewpan Hinchiranan (Am)