5 Intellectual Property Risks Product-Based Brands Can’t Afford to Ignore

For product-based businesses, innovation and creativity are paramount. Your designs, packaging, and product blueprints are the assets that set you apart in a saturated marketplace. However, with growth comes exposure, and too many brands overlook the intellectual property risks that can significantly erode their competitive edge long before they even notice the damage.

If you produce physical goods of any kind, such as apparel, beauty products, home goods, accessories, packaged foods, or anything in between, you’re operating in an environment where copycats and fast-moving trends pose real threats to your bottom line. Protecting your brand isn’t just about having a great product; it’s about building a defensible business with strong legal foundations.

Below are five of the most common and costly intellectual property risks product-based brands face, along with what you can do to prevent them.

1. Counterfeits and “Dupe Culture” Diluting Your Brand

TikTok, Instagram, and Amazon have made “dupe culture” a full-blown movement. While some consumers view dupes as harmless alternatives, they can pose serious risks to a brand’s reputation, sales, and long-term equity. Counterfeiters often recreate products quickly and cheaply – capitalizing on your brand’s popularity without bearing any of the costs of innovation, marketing, or quality control.

It’s not just about lost sales, either. When knockoffs surface in search results or on social media, consumers can easily become confused about what’s authentic and what isn’t. Poorly made dupes can also damage your brand’s reputation if people mistake them for your products. Without strong intellectual property rights, such as registered trademarks for your brand name and product names, design patents for product aesthetics, and copyright protection for packaging or product imagery, enforcement becomes much harder. Brands with registered IP have significantly more leverage to file takedowns, block counterfeit sellers, and prevent unauthorized use before it causes long-term harm.

2. AI Scraping and Unauthorized Use of Your Visual Assets

As artificial intelligence becomes woven into every corner of the digital world, product-based brands face a growing, often invisible intellectual property risk: AI image scraping.

Many AI tools pull images from across the web to train their models, which means your product photography, graphic designs, and brand visuals may be used without your permission, and repurposed in ways that can harm or dilute your brand.

For brands that rely heavily on visual identity and aesthetic appeal, this can be especially damaging. AI-generated lookalikes can circulate widely, making it harder to distinguish your products from imitations. Even more concerning, the AI-generated versions may distort your designs or create derivative imagery that others mistakenly attribute to your brand.

While it’s difficult to stop AI scraping entirely, copyright registration gives you legal standing to take action when your work is copied or misused. Having a formal record of ownership makes it easier to file DMCA takedowns, enforce your rights on digital platforms, and challenge unauthorized replications before they spread. As AI continues to evolve, brands with registered copyrights will be far better prepared to protect the integrity of their visual assets.

3. Weak Contracts With Manufacturers and Creative Partners

Many product-based founders assume that because they paid for a design, prototype, or manufacturing run, they automatically own the intellectual property. Unfortunately, that’s rarely the case. Without airtight contracts, manufacturers and collaborators may reuse your proprietary product elements, replicate your designs for other clients, or even inadvertently receive ownership over creative assets you thought belonged to you.

This becomes especially risky when working with overseas manufacturers, where international laws can make things murky. Some factories may see this as an opportunity to sell your designs to other brands, list them on wholesale marketplaces, or produce excess inventory to sell independently. Similarly, without a proper agreement, graphic designers, product engineers, photographers, and packaging artists may retain the copyright to the work they create for you, even if you paid for the project.

The solution starts with strong contracts that clearly outline ownership, confidentiality, and rights assignments. Your agreements should specify that any creative or proprietary work produced for your brand is considered a “work made for hire” or fully assigned to you, and should clarify which jurisdiction’s laws govern the agreement, especially when working internationally. Clear contracts prevent misunderstandings, shield your brand from unauthorized duplication, and provide legal recourse if someone misuses your assets.

4. Launching Without Trademark Protection

In the early stages of building a product-based brand, many founders focus on designing their products, setting up marketing, and securing manufacturing, but forget to lock down their trademarks. This is one of the most damaging intellectual property risks because once your brand name is out in the world, the clock starts ticking.

Without a registered trademark, you have limited protection against competitors using the same or similar name, logo, or product line branding. You could be forced into a costly rebrand if someone else registers a similar mark before you. Even worse – you may have little legal grounding to stop copycats who imitate your brand identity.

Trademark registration not only protects your brand – it expands your enforcement abilities. It allows you to report imposters to platforms like Amazon, Etsy, Instagram, and TikTok. It also helps prevent domain hijacking and gives you leverage to block infringing marks before they fully enter the market. Waiting too long to file can lead to financial loss, legal disputes, and missed growth opportunities, especially for brands hoping to scale through e-commerce channels.

5. Failing to Protect Product Designs and Packaging

Product-based brands often underestimate how much of their competitive edge comes from proprietary visual design. Whether it’s the shape of your signature bottle, the texture of your packaging, or the layout of your labels, these visual elements may be eligible for protection. Ignoring this can leave your brand vulnerable.

Design patents can protect the ornamental appearance of your product for up to 15 years, making it harder for competitors to create lookalike versions. Copyright can protect original packaging designs, illustrations, and layouts. Trade dress can safeguard the overall “look and feel” of your product or packaging when it becomes recognizable as uniquely yours, such as the red soles of Christian Louboutin heels.

When brands skip these protections, competitors can mimic their designs without legal consequences. This can dilute your brand identity, weaken consumer recognition, and cause confusion in crowded marketplaces. Proactively protecting your design-related assets makes it easier to prevent imitation and preserve the uniqueness of your brand’s visual identity.

Protecting What You’ve Built, and What You’re Building Next

For product-based brands, intellectual property risks aren’t abstract legal concepts. They show up in very real ways: lost revenue, damaged brand equity, production delays, and missed opportunities. Understanding these risks is the first step. Putting strong protections in place is what allows you to grow with confidence.

When your intellectual property is secured, you’re not just preventing problems; you’re creating stability. You’re giving your business room to scale, expand into new markets, and stand out in an increasingly competitive landscape.

If you’re ready to strengthen your brand’s legal foundation and reduce the risks that often blindside product-based businesses, Mika Mooney Law can help! We work with founders to build smart, future-focused IP strategies that protect their products, their brand identity, and the value they’re creating.

Click here to learn more about our brand protection services and book a free discovery call.

Disclaimer: This post is for legal education purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. No attorney-client relationship has been formed. To the extent this post constitutes attorney advertising, past results do not guarantee similar outcomes.