by DougD » Fri Apr 14, 2017 9:51 am
If PMTS were like Disney, there'd be an entire division of the Legal Dept dedicated to IP protection. They'd notify outfits like this one to cease and desist their infringing activities (broadly construed) or face legal action. If the infinging activities continued, formal actions would be commenced.
In such cases, the (allegedly) infringing small business would face immense legal costs to defend itself. They typically have few realistic options other than acceding to the larger company's demands.
Unfortunately, PMTS is also a small enterprise. It probably does not have the resources to support the legal actions needed to stop this sort of (presumed) infringement.
Sadly, failure to consistently defend one's IP can and does result in de facto loss of legal ownership rights. Bayer lost its rights to the trade name "Aspirin" partly for this reason. Small businesses are at greater risk because they lack the time, people and resources to discover and intervene against infringing behaviors.
Non-legal options are few (private requests, public shaming, etc.) and have a low probability of success. Anyone shameless enough to steal ideas and market them as one's own may not respond in a desirable manner. Further, such actions can easily backfire by generating negative publicity.
When Disney enjoins a small business from selling knockoff Mickey Mouse hats, they can withstand any negative publicity. It's almost always local, Disney is a multinational with endless resources and, in the end, they still own Mickey Mouse. PMTS has none of these advantages.