Blog

Outside of the branding processes undertaken by trademark professionals, there exists a fundamental fallacy - everyone seems to think that they understand trademarks. From startups choosing to go it alone with their applications to others decrying the need for trademarks at all, confidence in innate knowledge and simplicity is at an all-time high. 

Social media, whether you view it as friend or foe, invades every part of our lives and brands were quick to become part of that narrative. This creates a number of challenges for the companies involved. Standing out amongst all the noise being a case in point.

However, this is far from being the only challenge associated with the use of social media by brands of all sizes. Joe Quigley of Rivet LLC shares some insights:

It is the general perception that lawyers, whether in-house or private practice, often aren’t viewed in the role of a valuable strategic partner. Instead the legal department can be viewed as being an impediment to the business needs which must be worked around in order to succeed. Whilst undoubtedly the ability of the lawyer to prevent the business from taking a hit is appreciated, the rest of the time, the restrictions imposed by legal issues can chafe a bit.

The ever-popular and ever-despairing topic of client education in the world of IP is an interesting one. Despite the years of debate and initiatives employed by various individuals and bodies alike, little active progress can be reported. The useful question to ask then becomes whether or not there is likely to be any progress in the future.

Brexit. Where do I start? This is the question I imagine is in the minds of most UK Cabinet Ministers as they flick their eyes open every morning, with the knowledge they are one day closer to D-Day – March 29, 2019. Whatever talk there is in the media of extensions and the like, the fact is that it is, at the time of writing, enshrined in legislation that Britain will leave the European Union (EU) with or without a deal on that date.

The stable rule is that as long as the owner renews the trademark, the exclusivity gained by trademark is perpetual. Considering most of the countries have renewal deadlines and grace periods as inextensible, monitoring trademark renewals and grace period times are crucial for keeping that exclusivity.

Walt Disney has faced uproar in parts of Africa for trademarking “hakuna matata”, a Swahili phrase meaning “no worries”. It has owned the trademark since 1994; however, as we shall see, the conversation on cultural appropriation has developed significantly in the last 20-odd years.

Having joined TrademarkNow a few months ago to do marketing, this is a good time to reflect on some of the things I have learned about trademarks along the way. And definitely some of the things every marketer involved with brands (i.e. everyone!) should keep in mind and realize.

Can you picture it? - the Marketing and Legal departments embarking on a new naming project in a perfectly symbiotic pas de deux. Marketing send forth their researched and frankly brilliant new product name, Legal (or Outside Counsel) clear it for use and register it as a trademark in plenty of time for Marketing to design their packaging and message around it.

Sadly, it almost never seems to work that way!

There is no question that the modern day branding project is fraught with increasing challenges. On the one side, the attention of the marketplace in a media world is increasingly difficult to grab. When you do grab that attention, retaining it instead of quickly becoming another bygone trend is an uphill battle. You don’t just need a name for your product. You need a FANTASTIC name - a brand that will grab the attention of your target market and have them fall in love with it.