Intellectual Property infringement means any breach or violation of protected intellectual property

rights. If any work by an author is protected under the Intellectual Property laws and that work is
copied or used or exploited without the permission of the author in any manner then this would be a
case of infringement. The given case study talks about a Japanese company named SesamWare and
the infringement of its intellectual property rights. SesamWare gained an International approval with
an online multiplayer fantasy dimension game called ParaWorld. Paraworld was designed using an
open source methodology which allows its users to become co-developers. Any person could simply
download the game after accepting the licensing agreement. Thereafter he/she had to choose a
character and participate in the dynamism of Parallel World. The open nature of its development
enabled its users to choose any character in the world. With all the attention given to their online
characters and the actions and decisions made in their likeliness, government, policy makers and
other famous people vouched for restrictions on the game under IT infringement laws. They were
also presented with an international lawsuit for playing monopoly in the software market.

1. Assume ParaWorld was eventually ordered to cease and desist due to IP infringement. What

category of IP has ParaWorld most likely infringed? Explain the actions that constitute such
an infringement.

A registered Trademark protects the goodwill and reputation associated with a company or
product as a brand. A trademark is a very important business asset and is also a recognizable
form of Intellectual property. A trademark is anything by which the customers or users
identify a product or service or its source. An owner of a trademark can take legal action if
his/her intellectual property rights are infringed. If the infringement is proved the court can
bar the user or the infringer from using the product and also award penalties at the same
time whereby the company gets monetary relief. In the given case ParaWorld has most likely
infringed Trademark owing to its open nature. If ParaWorld was ordered to cease and desist
due to IP infringement, the category of IP most likely to be infringed would be Industrial
Property. Industrial Property includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs
and geographical indications. The main reason that constituted the Infringement in this case
was the un-ethical behaviour of gamers. Due to the open nature of the game’s development,
over the time the users of game began to misuse character version and their actions. The
character versions in the game comprised of the government, policy makers and some
famous people, which lead to infringement of IPR. As discussed earlier the consequences of
infringement of IPR can be very severe and extend up to banning the infringer and levying
heavy penalties on it. In the given case if it is proved that ParaWorld has infringed the IP
rights then it can be permanently or temporarily banned from further operations and at the
same time penalties can be levied on it.