Inhouse Legal Professionals Concerned about Rise in AI-driven IP Infringement

Inhouse Legal Professionals Concerned about Rise in AI-driven IP Infringement

The most common forms of IP infringement are counterfeiting, trademark abuse and brand impersonation, legal professionals said.

Nine out of 10 senior legal leaders said that they are worried about the threat of online IP infringement.

Most senior legal leaders are worried about an increase in AI-driven intellectual property infringements; as per research commissioned by CSC.

Titled ‘IP Frontiers Report 2025: Proactive Security against IP infringement’, the report found that nine out of 10 legal professionals are worried about online IP infringements with 85% reporting an increase in infringements over the past one year and 90% expecting more in the coming year.

The most common forms of IP infringement are counterfeiting, trademark abuse and brand impersonation, legal professionals said. AI-enabled systems are driving the rise in infringement activity, 88% of the respondents said while 93% are concerned that AI-generated fake assets such as logos, images and content could cause considerable harm to their business.

Ihab Shraim, chief technology officer in CSC’s digital brand services division, reportedly said: “With how much commerce and communication takes place online, a brand’s reputation is built on its online presence and guarding it is a responsibility companies should take seriously.”

False domain names are often the first-step counterfeiters and brand impersonators used in large-scale infringement campaigns. Their organisations have a domain management strategy in place, 76% of respondents said whereas 16% said that their legal teams have total visibility into how their portfolios are managed, exposing them to potential fraud risk.

Shraim reportedly further said, “There’s a massive influx of sophisticated threat vectors targeting corporations, and the easiest targets are domain names and IP. In the past, fraudsters would send hundreds of thousands of phishing emails hoping that 2% or 3% would respond. Today, fraudulent activity is more targeted and comes with a much higher rate of success, particularly as AI quickly becomes a major accelerant.”

Sixty-seven per cent of respondents said that they hope to see significant increase in brand protection and IP enforcement budgets in the next three years to counter these risks whereas 56% said that they are outsourcing some of their monitoring efforts to track infringement.

Ian McConnel, chief legal officer at CSC, reportedly said: “Reactive defences are no longer enough. Fraudsters exploit low-cost, fast-moving tools to impersonate brands at scale. As AI adoption expands the avenues for infringement, companies that adopt proactive, multi-layered protection – integrating legal, IT and security teams, and partnering with trusted corporate registrars – will be best positioned to safeguard brand reputation in the AI era.”