Every business has an
identity that reflects its qualities and values. These might
be product innovation, customer service, delivery, know-how,
cost reduction, concern for the environment, whatever customers
remember it for.
A successful brand also has a unique identity which is different
from anything that competitors can offer. The identity of
every brand is made up of a set of brand values, which are
the outstanding qualities for which it is recognised.
These qualities and values are expressed through trading
styles, brand names, logos, packaging and store designs, or
whatever visual or aural signs link a business to its customers.
They are the trade marks which a business uses, and carry
with them its reputation.
Because a company's reputation is valuable, it should protect
any trade mark essential to its business. If it does not,
it may risk losing a vital sales and marketing asset.
Registration is the only effective means of protecting trade
marks and controlling unauthorised use or imitation by others,
since:
- Owning a prior trade mark registration or application
makes it easier and cheaper to oppose someone else's application
for the same or similar mark, and more likely to be successful;
- It is an obstacle to anybody registering the same or similar
mark in countries such as the UK, USA, Japan and Australia
where official objections are raised to later applications
that conflict;
- It has a deterrent effect and can be publicised by use
of e.g. ®, which may prevent unauthorised use or imitation
in the first place;
- Action against piracy is faster and more persuasive when
based on trade mark registration, as effective rights are
already in place, and formal litigation may even be avoided
as a result;
- Whilst legal action for passing off based on prior use
of a trade mark is a possible alternative, this is generally
more costly and uncertain.
Copyright can be valuable, but it cannot protect names or
slogans. Moreover, it only protects against deliberate copying
and not coincidental similarity. Proving ownership of copyright
also tends to be more difficult and expensive than relying
on trade mark registration.
Trade mark registration not only provides the protection
necessary to safeguard a company's identity or brand. It is
also an enabler of brand licensing, and consequently helps
in improving the generation of revenue. It can additionally
assist in raising funds through e.g. securitisation, or help
to support the sale of a business.
If a company does not seek trade mark registration at an
early enough date, there is a danger that prior registration
by someone else could prevent it expanding its business or
that its marketing might even be halted altogether. |
