Alleged intellectual property infringements are increasingly discussed in public and on social media. When a claim targets a product, content, brand, or creative work, it is not just a legal issue: even an unfounded allegation or insinuation can quickly harm reputation, partnerships, and business.
Our VP of Legal Services, Emilia Hodge, has published a peer-reviewed article in Defensor Legis examining publicly made unfounded IPR infringement claims and insinuations from the perspectives of defamation and liability for damages. At the time of publication, Emilia’s article is among the few peer‑reviewed domestic works on this specific topic.
The topic is timely. News outlets and social media often report IP infringements based solely or primarily on one party’s assertion of unlawful conduct or on insinuations that it occurred. The issue is practically significant because negative impressions can form and information can spread rapidly before any legal assessment or proceedings take place. Publishers often lack sufficient information to evaluate whether the allegations are justified. It is problematic if threats of publicity can be used to pressure the other party into accepting demands.
The article also clarifies an important boundary: not all critical or socially significant discussion about alleged IPR infringements amounts to defamation. Overall assessment, context, and the balancing of rights are central. The article identifies circumstances in which defamation is not at issue.
IP infringement allegations typically involve creative works, such as products or other content. They may concern alleged copyright infringement or industrial rights, such as trademarks or design rights. The term plagiarism is also often used. IP issues may arise in relation to deepfakes, videos, images, or audio in which people appear to do or say things they did not. These have sparked extensive debate from an intellectual property perspective as well.
Public allegations or insinuations can create a negative impression of the person accused and lead to broader criticism. If a natural person is named or can be identified, the consequences may include reputational harm, emotional distress, and economic loss, such as lost income, missed jobs or engagements, terminated collaborations, potential contractual liability for damages, or reduced sales.
The article demonstrates that the criteria for defamation can, in principle, be met in the situations examined when the act targets a natural person. It identifies the key factors in the overall assessment of whether the elements of defamation are satisfied and describes circumstances in which defamation is not present. From an editorial perspective, it is essential to enable socially significant discussion on alleged IP infringements, while properly balancing fundamental rights.
The article appears in Defensor Legis 2/2026. Defensor Legis is a respected legal journal published by the Finnish Bar Association since 1920 and features practical articles across legal fields. Peer‑reviewed articles are evaluated by external academic experts. The full article is available in Finnish in the paid publication. Berggren provides free access to the article.
We are happy to continue the discussion on this topic also outside Finland and welcome perspectives for further dialogue.