intellectual property

Intellectual property is the property generated in the process of intellectual activities. It can be possessed and used, and generated benefits. The major components of intellectual property include copyrights, patents, and trademarks. Similar to tangible property, intellectual property which is an intangible property is also protected by the law. The governments and parliaments have given the creators the rights as an incentive to produce ideas that will benefit society as a whole, by preventing others from using the creators’ inventions, designs or other creations. By the time the intellectual property becomes more important in trade, the differences between these given rights, which varied widely around the world become a source of tension in international economic relations. (World Trade Organization, n.d.)

Now days, Trademark and copyright infringement are becoming increasingly common in the world. And due to the difficulty to catch direct infringers who sell counterfeit or other infringing products on the internet, as they can easily mask their identities and avoid liabilities by shutting down and reopen under different domain name. So the intellectual property owners have turned to enforce their trademark and copyrights against internet-based infringers, and try to impose liabilities on parties that have some involvement in counterfeit or infringing product transactions rather than imposing liabilities on the direct infringers. Search engines, auction sites that facilitate transactions involving infringing products, and credit card companies involved processing payments for such products, can be considered as examples of these parties. (McCue, 2012)

Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. vs. Akanoc Solutions, Inc case may provide contributory trademark infringement, counterfeiting and copyright infringement example.
Louis Vuitton, an international French fashion house and luxury brand, sued Akanoc, a California-based internet service provider, for hosting