The Ultimate Guide to Using Proxies for Intellectual Property Protection

Regardless of its size and niche, every business wants to protect its data. On average, a company loses $4,500 per minute during downtime due to data loss. To make matters worse, detecting a breach can take up to 206 days.

Unfortunately, as the world becomes more digital, the risk of intellectual property theft also increases. It has become easier for people to pirate intellectual property and make money off it without crediting the original creator or owner.

While it’s not possible to eliminate the risk of theft and piracy, there are some steps you can take to ensure intellectual property protection. One of them is using proxies. You can use proxies to protect your data. In this guide, we will discuss intellectual property protection in detail and suggest methods for the protection of intellectual property through proxy use. Feel free to use the Table of Contents to skip to the sections that interest you.

What Is Intellectual Property?

First and foremost, it’s important to understand what constitutes intellectual property.

Intellectual property refers to a body of work resulting from creativity. In other words, it’s any performance, creation, invention, or discovery that can be legally protected from theft and illegal use by others.

It includes literary and artistic works such as music, books, and movies, and discoveries and inventions. It also includes symbols, names, and images used in business.

Some examples of intellectual property include:

• The Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo da Vinci
• Apple’s logo
• JRR Tolkien’sLord of the Rings books
• Patents for items like surgical equipment, rubber erasers, air purifiers, earmuffs, etc.

Since intellectual property and technology go hand in hand, the digitization of today’s world has given rise to more types of intellectual property.

Software intellectual property is a category of intellectual property that protects written computer software and its source code from theft or piracy. Often, the programmers who create this written software also own the intellectual property rights to their programs.

It is common for companies and individuals to sell all or part of their proprietary software under a licensing agreement with another party. You can use proxies to protect intellectual property software from being stolen or copied without your consent.

Scraping the web using a proxy will help you identify which website is stealing your software or code. You can then exercise your intellectual property rights to file a complaint against the culprit as per the law in your country or industry.

What are intellectual property rights?

Intellectual property rights belong to people or companies who create a unique product granted a patent, trademark, or copyright.

A patent is an intellectual property right for an invention that gives the owner the right to exclude others from using it commercially without permission. The term of protection lasts for a certain number of years.

In most countries, patents can be filed on inventions in any technology field as long as they are new and have some degree of inventiveness. An invention has to fulfill three main requirements: it has to be new, inventive, and industrially applicable.

It should also be described well enough so that others could reproduce it later on. According to the law, a patent can be granted if these requirements are met and if there’s no prior art available.

Suppose someone applied for a patent of the wheel in the year 2000 and another person tried to apply for it in 2010. The second persons’ application would fail because, at that point, there already exists prior art (the wheel).

Types of Intellectual Property

Typically, four types of intellectual properties are legally protected and often stolen.

Trademarks

Trademarks are used to protect the names, symbols, logos, sounds, or colors used by a company to represent its brand.

Copyrights

Under copyright laws, intellectual property rights protect creative works, including books, songs, and artwork. Copyrights are usually held by an individual author for a limited period, after which the work is considered part of the public domain and free for use by anyone.

The copyright holder is legally authorized to sell, change, or reproduce their work.

Patents

Patent law protects inventions or discoveries that have been given legal protection so no one else can copy them without permission from the inventor/discoverer.

Only the person or the company who holds the patent can make, use, and sell (or offer for sale) the invention.

Trade secrets

Intellectual property rights can also protect a business’s confidential information, including production secrets, pricing strategies, marketing plans, etc. These secrets usually consist of a formula or process used to produce a product or service.

While patents are filed at a government agency or patent office and listed publicly in a database, trade secrets are protected through non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).

Now that you are familiar with the type of intellectual property that can be stolen, let’s explore intellectual property protection and why it’s important in today’s time.

What Is Intellectual Property Protection?

Intellectual property protection or brand protection is the legal means for preventing others from using a company’s trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets without permission.

It is a form of legal protection that helps businesses safeguard their brands and assets from being copied or used illegally by others. Intellectual property protection can be in the form of registered trademarks, copyrights, and patents.

Businesses can also protect their intellectual property through NDAs with employees and third-party vendors.

Types of brand infringement

Businesses may experience different types of brand infringement. Some of them include:

Counterfeiting

Counterfeiting refers to the unauthorized manufacture, sale, or use of a company’s products or services. In many cases, the products look like the originals and may even include the original trademarks.

Counterfeiting can be very damaging to businesses, leading to revenue and customer loss. It can also tarnish a company’s reputation.

Often, the knock-offs are so similar to the original that customers cannot differentiate between the two. This is particularly detrimental to the brand since the customers may believe the actual company is selling low-quality products. It can affect the customers’ sentiment towards the company.

Trademark infringement

Sometimes, other companies may use a company’s trademarks in their website content even though they do not hold a license to use them.

For example, if Company A wants to publish reviews for Company B’s products, they should include disclaimers saying they don’t own the products and are not affiliated with Company B.

This helps prevent confusion among consumers about who owns what. If Company B does not allow this kind of third-party use, it is trademark infringement.

Copyright infringement

Copyright infringement refers to using another company’s original work without permission or proper licensing. Copyright infringement can be very damaging as it affects how people perceive your business and may lead to loss of reputation and revenue.

Domain name hijacking

Domain name hijacking is the unauthorized acquisition of a domain name by another party. The party may use the domain to redirect traffic to their own website or sell it to someone else.

Domain name hijacking can be very costly for businesses as they may lose valuable web traffic and customers.

Why Is Intellectual Property Protection Important?

Protection of intellectual property is important because it’s easier for a company to lose its hard-earned goodwill, brand value, and profits. The problem with intellectual property protection is that it can be tough to stop others from stealing your work even if you have obtained legal protection against unfair use of your ideas or creations.

Intellectual property theft is a serious issue, and companies need to be aware of the risks involved in not protecting their brands and ideas.

By using the various forms of intellectual property protection available, businesses can safeguard their products, services, and reputation from being stolen or copied without consent.

Here are some reasons brands need to focus on the protection of intellectual property.

Protect exclusive rights

When you protect your intellectual property, it gives you exclusive rights to your product or idea. It means that you are the only person who can sell, give away, license, or reproduce your creative work.

Boost brand value

Protecting your intellectual property can improve your company’s image to your customers. They will be assured they are purchasing a valuable, unique product that has not been replicated illegally by another seller.

This sense of security will show them that their investment in branded goods is valuable for this reason alone.

Provide legal protection

Intellectual property law prohibits companies from using another company’s trademark, copyrighted material, patent, or trade secret without prior permission.

If your business utilizes these types of legal protection and the other company doesn’t obtain consent from you to use it, there is a chance that they could be sued and forced to stop their unauthorized use.

Protect against counterfeiting

Counterfeiters usually replicate and sell products that look like the real thing but can be sold at a lower price. These fake goods tarnish the brand image of popular brands by making them appear less valuable than originals.

Intellectual property protection measures help prevent illegal reproduction of artwork and designs by counterfeiters, increasing customer trust in your brand name.

Prevent exploitation

If another company or person steals your intellectual property, they can make money off of it without having to put in the hard work you have. This can lead to a loss in profits and a potential loss for your company.

Earn royalties

Companies can also earn royalties by licensing their intellectual property to others. This can be a lucrative way for businesses to make money without selling or giving away their products and services.

Intellectual property protection allows businesses to retain control over how their brands are used and help keep their profits.

How Does Intellectual Property Protection Work?

Intellectual property protection prevents brand abuse and theft by detecting, enforcing, validating, and reporting cases.

Detection

The initial step in intellectual property protection is detection. Businesses have to be aware of their intellectual property and keep track of unauthorized use.

Enforcement

Once a company has detected someone using their intellectual property without permission, they need to enforce their rights. This involves sending a cease and desist letter, taking legal action, or filing a complaint with the government.

Validation

To legally enforce your intellectual property rights, you must first validate them. This is done by proving you are the rightful owner of the protected material and that it has been used without consent.

Reporting

Intellectual property theft should be reported to the authorities so they can take appropriate action. This helps prevent others from stealing intellectual property in the future.

How to Use Proxies for Protection of Intellectual Property

Web crawling has many uses, including online marketing, web scraping, data mining, and web archiving. It is not surprising that many people are interested in using proxies for intellectual property protection.

A proxy is a server that sits between your computer and the Internet. When you send a request for a web page, the proxy server fetches the page from the Internet and sends it to you.

In terms of intellectual property protection, proxies can crawl the web and find out if another company is stealing your information or trademarks. A proxy pinpoints cases of brand abuse by monitoring your trademark and domain names across the Internet.

Here are some reasons proxies prove to be helpful in intellectual property protection monitoring:

Access geographically restricted content

Some websites restrict access to their content to users from particular countries. Proxies can be used to hide your computer’s real IP address and trick a website into thinking that you are connecting it from a different location.

In this way, you can check if a company in another geographical region is stealing your intellectual property.

Create back-ups of websites

Crawling sites with proxies allows you to create multiple copies of the digital content found on those sites.

For example, if a website displays user manuals or product descriptions, then crawling that site with proxies will allow someone to create backups in case the original pages are removed.

When you have to report intellectual property theft, you can use these copies as evidence even if the other company has removed the content from their websites.

Improve loading speeds

When trying to access blocked websites, it can take too long to load the pages. Slow loading times can be really frustrating, especially if you’re in a hurry.

A good way to improve loading speeds is by using a proxy server. A proxy server helps improve loading speed by caching content from the websites you visit. This is helpful in cases where you have to find the people who have stolen your intellectual property immediately.

Monitor consumer sentiment

You can use proxies to find out what customers are saying about your company on the web. This is especially useful for companies planning to launch a new product.

Proxies can help you track the online presence of your competitors as well. In this way, you can see what kind of content they publish and how it affects your business.

But how does this help in preventing or detecting intellectual property theft? Suppose you crawl the web for consumer sentiment and notice a sudden spike in the number of negative reviews for your brand. It could be due to another company counterfeiting your products or slapping your logo on their products, impersonating your brand. Since most products in such cases are of lower quality than the original product, this could increase the negative reviews.

Overall, proxies are very useful tools for intellectual property protection. They allow you to access restricted content, create backups of websites, and monitor consumer sentiment.

Types of Proxy Servers

Before you select the best proxy server for intellectual property protection, it’s important to be familiar with the types of servers available. Knowing how they work will help you select the right proxy server to meet your needs.

Residential Proxy

Residential proxies have a physical address. Internet service providers issue these IP addresses to regular residential users. The IP address you use on your home’s internet network is in this category.

Residential proxies are valuable for web scraping since most website firewalls do not block them. They also offer a wider range of IP addresses to choose from to help you avoid detection.

Since it’s more difficult to source residential proxies, they’re more expensive than other types of proxies. However, they offer unparalleled security and authenticity, which is just what you need when using proxies for intellectual property protection.

Rayobyte’s residential proxies are the best in the market when it comes to intellectual property protection and bypassing geographical restrictions. These residential proxies face fewer bans since they are associated with individual residential users.

Most importantly, Rayobyte offers rotating proxies, which means you can use a new proxy for every website you visit.  This guarantees that your IP address will never be associated with any websites you visit, keeping you safe from blacklisting or account termination.

Proxy rotation is an essential part of online privacy and security. You have to rotate the proxies manually in most cases, which can be a pain.  Rayobyte automatically rotates your proxies for you, which saves you time and effort. The benefit of rotating proxies is that you get a fresh IP address for each website you visit, making it virtually impossible for anyone to track your online activity.

You can access any website in the world with Rayobyte’s residential proxy servers without anyone tracking down your personal IP address. This allows you to bypass areas where internet censorship is active or geographical restrictions on certain websites.

If you run into any issues, Rayobyte’s 24/7 world-class support team is at your assistance, preventing any downtime losses.

Data center proxies

Data center proxies come from data centers rather than internet service providers. These proxies are more likely to get banned because they do not originate from regular users like residential proxies. However, they’re faster than residential proxies and can help you generate more results.

Data center proxies are a great option for people who need to scrape websites quickly or want to bypass IP blocks. They’re also useful if you want to stay anonymous online.

When using intellectual property proxies, you need to get large-scale results so that you can determine if someone is stealing your property. Additionally, you may have to bypass geographical barriers to detect intellectual property theft in other countries.

Some benefits of data center proxies include:

• High performance: These proxies offer the best performance for intellectual property protection since they give instant results.
• High uptime: Data center proxies come with 99.9 percent uptime, which means you can scrape the web whenever you want.
• Worldwide coverage: You can use data center proxies to access many locations worldwide, with city-level targeting.
• Easy management: These proxies are easy to manage, making it easy for you to get the most out of your devices.

Rayobyte’s data center proxies allow you to access websites from more than 29 countries. These include the U.S., the U.K., Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

On top of that, you get access to more than 300,000 IPS, so downtime is never a concern. With such a massive IP infrastructure, you can scrape the web for all your business needs without worrying about bans or proxy rotation.

How to Choose the Best Proxies for Property Protection Monitoring

Selecting intellectual property proxies can be overwhelming, especially if you’re new to the process. The quality of proxies you choose determines the results you’ll get from them.

One of the best ways to ensure you have chosen the right proxies is to ask for recommendations from industry professionals with experience in securing intellectual property. They can help you navigate this process quickly and efficiently so your project is not delayed by unnecessary red tape. But not every business has access to these professionals.

Here are some important factors to consider when choosing proxies for property protection monitoring:

Type of proxy

First off, decide the type of proxy you want to use for the protection of intellectual property. Do you prefer residential proxies, or would you rather use a private proxy? Your choice will affect the results, so it is important to consider your options before making a decision.

Speed

It’s also important to consider the speed of the proxies you’re using. In most cases, the latency of most proxies is minimal enough to be ignored. But for projects that require fast loading speeds, higher latency can cause issues.

This is especially true for websites. Sites with higher load speeds tend to take up more bandwidth than those with slower speeds, which could lead your host to detect your activity as suspicious and suspend your account.

The result? Your proxies are useless since you no longer have access to the site or file you were trying to protect.

Browser integration

Some companies selling proxies try to simplify the whole setup process by using proprietary software to configure the system for their customers.

An alternative option is the use of browser extensions. These extensions can be used to configure your browser for use with proxy servers. While using these extensions is cost-effective, it makes the process less secure. That’s because your browsing history will be visible to the extension provider. And they could sell this data to third parties without your permission or knowledge.

Browser plugins also have other disadvantages that should be considered. Websites block many proxies, so sites won’t load when you try accessing them through a plugin-configured browser.

Value for money

When shopping for proxies, you must ensure that you’re getting your money’s worth.

Some proxy providers offer a wide range of services, while others specialize in a particular area, such as anonymity or secure browsing.

It’s important to find a provider that meets your specific needs. And don’t forget to factor in the price. Cheap proxies are often not worth your time and money. They may be slow, unreliable, and provide minimal protection for your intellectual property.

On the other hand, top-of-the-line proxies can be very expensive. But they’re worth the investment if you need the best possible security for your data.

Using Proxies for Intellectual Property Protection: Important Tips

Many organizations already use proxies for different purposes, such as price monitoring and competitor analysis. Since intellectual property protection is not the most common use of proxies, beginners may have trouble getting started.

Here are some tips for using proxies to protect your intellectual property:

Choose the right proxy server

There are many different types of proxy servers, and not all of them are suitable for protecting intellectual property. You’ll want to choose a proxy server that is secure and reliable.

Most importantly, you should buy proxies from a company that focuses on ethical proxy acquisition. Rayobyte is a huge proponent of ethical web scraping, and all residential IPs from the company come from partners who are fully aware of how their IP addresses are used. They also have the liberty to opt-out of the program whenever they want.

Use a private proxy server

A private proxy server is only accessible by authorized users. Typically, they are used by just one person. This is ideal for protecting sensitive data, such as IP addresses. A good proxy service will offer both private IPv4 and IPv6 proxies. Private proxies also tend to be faster, since they are not shared.

Don’t use free proxies

You may be tempted to use free proxies, but it’s not a good idea. Most free proxies are not secure, and they may even be dangerous. It’s better to invest in a reliable proxy server than to take the risk of using a free proxy.

Additionally, free proxies may perform well poorly, showing no results even if someone is stealing your intellectual property.

Select proxies with bigger pool sizes

The proxy pool size refers to the number of proxies available to you. The bigger the pool size, the more IP addresses you can access. This is important for protecting your intellectual property, as you’ll want to use different proxy IP addresses to prevent blacklisting.

Use data center proxies for immediate threats

If you suspect that you were a victim of intellectual property theft, it’s best to act promptly. Since data center proxies are faster, you should use them to respond to immediate threats.

Doing so will allow you to catch the culprit as soon as possible and instantly go ahead with the reporting process.

Rotate your proxies frequently

It’s important to rotate your proxies frequently to avoid getting banned. Proxies used too often can be detected and blocked by websites. By rotating your proxies, you can ensure that your traffic remains undetected.

Fortunately, Rayobyte offers rotating residential proxies, so you don’t have to rotate the proxies manually. This saves you a lot of time deciding how to take action against intellectual property theft and safeguard your property for the future.

How to Protect Your Intellectual Property

Once you have identified the various types of brand infringement, you can do a few things to protect your intellectual property other than using proxies.

Trademark your brand

The process of trademarking your brand may be tedious, but it’s definitely worth the effort because it will keep other people from profiting off of your brand or identity. While it may seem like a hassle, there are ways to trademark your brand that won’t require you to be present for every court hearing and long wait times.

Trademarks typically cover things like brand names and logos. There are other types of intellectual property protection like copyrights and patents that protect IP like original works and inventions.

Make sure you renew your trademark when required. It’s better to hire an attorney who can make sure all items are correctly filed and can also deal with any lesser infringements.

Hire a private investigator

While laws vary from one state to another, it might be a good idea to hire an investigator who can look into whether other people or businesses have infringed upon your intellectual property.

A private investigator may have the necessary connections that you don’t, so they can locate key individuals who know about certain issues regarding intellectual property infringement.

An experienced PI will know how to gather relevant information and know what questions to ask so as not to alert those being investigated of their true intentions.

Create non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements

If you often hire contractors or freelancers, it’s wise to dictate that they do not share any information about your business and its practices.

This is even more relevant if you’re working on new products, methods of distribution, or marketing strategies. You can still disclose some details without revealing too much information to ensure the contractor has enough to work with and room for creativity.

These agreements should also include a non-disclosure component that prevents them from sharing your confidential information with others and imposes fines if this clause is breached.

Avoid joint ownership

Experts at Forbes suggest against forming joint ownership. It can create problems in the future, especially if you’re working with a partner who’s not very honest.

If you decide to proceed with joint ownership, make sure it’s clearly stated in the business contract how the rights to intellectual property are shared or distributed among the joint owners.

Who gets the copyrights for the artwork created in case of a dispute? How are the intellectual property rights for trademarks shared among partners?

This way, it will be easier to claim sole ownership of your intellectual property if any disputes arise. If these things have not been made clear in the business contract, you may end up losing rights to your intellectual property even if you’re the one who did all the work.

Protect intellectual property with strong access control

81% of the breaches occur due to compromised credentials. Thus, it’s important to have strong access control with security measures in place, such as two-factor authentication and other security protocols.

You should also make it part of your marketing contract, especially if you’re dealing with freelancers or contractors.

Make sure they don’t share any information about the project, its results, or benchmarks that can be used in the future by other people or businesses to benefit from your work. This includes both social media posts and blog articles written about the project.

When in doubt, consult an attorney who specializes in intellectual property law. It’s important to spend time and money on these actions, or you may find out later that you have no legal recourse because of inaction on your part.

Final Words

Protection of intellectual property is imperative to maintain a successful business. When it comes to safeguarding your ideas and creations, it’s important to know your options and take the necessary steps to protect them.

Whether you want intellectual property software protection or need to keep the designs of your upcoming products safe, you can count on proxies to identify and detect intellectual property theft.

Both data center and residential proxies can be used for intellectual property protection. While the former is better for an immediate response, the latter works best if you need more authentic results.

At the end of the day, the protection of intellectual property and technology use can work simultaneously. You just need to ensure you select a reliable and reputed proxy provider if you intend to use web scraping for property protection monitoring.

The information contained within this article, including information posted by official staff, guest-submitted material, message board postings, or other third-party material is presented solely for the purposes of education and furtherance of the knowledge of the reader. All trademarks used in this publication are hereby acknowledged as the property of their respective owners.