The internet is one of the most important sources for understanding modern business activity.

In cross-border intellectual property investigation, online platforms can provide many leads relating to products, stores, accounts, businesses and communication activity.

But what can be seen online does not necessarily represent the entire market.

1. Finding a Product Online Does Not Mean We Understand How It Actually Circulates

From an online page, we may be able to determine:

how the product is displayed;

what name is used;

what price is being offered;

and which account is publishing it.

But other questions may remain unanswered:

  • Does the product actually exist?
  • Is it being sold continuously in the physical market?
  • Through what distribution channels does it reach the market?
  • Is there a relationship between the online account and an actual business location?
  • At what scale is the product circulating in a particular market?

Some of these questions may require confirmation in the physical market.

2. Information Found in the Field Can Become a New Entry Point for Online Investigation

The relationship between online and field investigation works in both directions.

A store name, telephone number, packaging label, business name or product marking found in a physical market may provide a new entry point for online searches.

Information that previously appeared unrelated online may become connected through a single lead identified in the field.

Online findings can also make field investigation more efficient.

If the investigator already understands the appearance of the product, the names it may use, the businesses that may be involved and the likely sales channels, the field investigation can begin with a much narrower range of targets.

3. Each Information Environment Has Its Own Blind Spots

Online investigation has important advantages.

It can cover a wide geographic area.

It allows access to large volumes of information in a relatively short time.

Historical information may remain available.

But online information alone may not always establish whether information is accurate, whether a business is currently active or how products are actually circulating.

Field investigation provides direct access to the physical market, but it is constrained by time, location and local conditions.

Neither replaces the other.

The real question is how to decide:

When is online information sufficient?

When is field confirmation necessary?

How should information from the two environments be cross-validated?

4. Investigative Value Can Appear Between the Online and Physical Worlds

An online account, viewed by itself, may appear unremarkable.

A single physical store may also seem to have little significance.

But when the two can be connected through telephone numbers, business names, products, addresses or other publicly available information, previously isolated facts can take on new meaning.

Online and field investigation are two different windows into actual market activity.

Information of real value sometimes appears in the space between them.