A situation involving any IPR dispute can be assessed in various ways, depending in the tipe of IPR that is at stake. The best option would be to get in touch with an IP lawyer or expert as fast as possible, as the situation might be different depending on whether the IPR is a Trademark, Design, Copyright or Patent. The recognition of the product or brand, the history it has in the country where the IPR infringement has taken place and territoriality are just some of the factors one has to take into account when assessing an IPR dispute or infringement.

First of all one needs to gather proof. Evidence on the internet can dissapear quickly. Cases are won based on facts. Second, asses the rights concerned. Are they still valid? Who owns them? (This goes wrong many times, even when lawyers are involved). Are they transferred correctly? Are there third party IP rights in play that might be relevant? Is there prior art that is relevant? It really depends on the type of IP right what kind of research should be conducted.

Before you start negotiating, you need to know what your position is. Sometimes its better to start negotiating after you have performed certain steps. If your adverse party is unknown, and if you want to gather data, you can seize the data first at a third party (such as a hosting provider) and then start to negotiate

In the Netherlands, quite a lot IP conflicts are solved in preliminairy injunction proceedings. ADR is usefull for domain name conflicts

This steps comes before step 2. You should get yourself familiar with the proceedings and costs, and get expert advice of a local lawyer.

This is especially true in the age of Generative AI. Document your creative process if you want to have a strong case in court. Is the chain of title (paper trail of transfer) in good order and sufficient? A lot of times it needs some attention. When did you check your IP portfolio?

This is a very general question given the various types of intellectual property and issues that a business owner can face. However, some thing we explore in every intellectual property dispute situation is the negotiation, and entering into of a coexist agreement between the opposing parties. Although this is not always something that is easily achievable, we generally look to whether the two parties can co exist in the competing market space. Sometimes by having agreements to limit territory or use of certain parts of the intellectual property or the style in which it is presented. Very often neither party has to acknowledge the other parties superiority in any rights they are just agreeing to exist with each other.