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ACID Summary: IPO and British Brands Group (BBG) Webinar; How to Build and Protect Brands and Reputation.

The IPO and BBG joined forces to deliver a short and informative webinar on the benefits and practical applications of building a brand and protecting it! ACID’s CEO Dids Macdonald, OBE., commenting on the webinar said, “As close partners of the Intellectual Property Office and long-time friends of the British Brands Group, we welcome this very useful webinar about the importance of building, protecting and promoting British brands.

The design brands that belong to ACID members are incredibly important and no more so as we launch into different territories, hopefully in new and exciting partnerships, globally. The importance of protecting brands through registered trademarks, not only in home territories but those in which a company trades, is paramount. At ACID we have legal affiliates who specialise in registering design brands, so it is always pays dividends to seek expert help and advice when trying to create a brand protection strategy”

There is also no stronger “brand” of deterrence than the ACID logo, a community registered trademark to use as much as possible to communicate, loudly and clearly, that you have a zero tolerance of IP theft, in any form.

Take a look at our ACID summary;

Who are the IPO and BBG?
BBG; not-for-profit membership organisation, cross sectoral, champions brands and engages with relevant policy.
IPO; official UK government body responsible for intellectual property (IP) rights including patents, designs, trademarks and copyright.

Practical ways to capitalise on business assets.

  • What are Brands? Is a brand just a Trademark? Does it consist solely of Corporate identity? Or just the business logo? Well, no, a brand is much more.. a brand is uniquely personal to each individual and is built by his/or her own experiences e.g. in stores/restaurants/product use, as well as communication with others about their experiences, whether good or bad and in what political context – ‘What is in their hearts and minds?’.
  • There are, however, common understandings and expectations – these are the cornerstones of your brand and the key features over which you, as a company, has influence.
  • Every person in your business can support (or undermine) the value of the brand.

e.g. Car manufacturer logos – imagine a car with a Ford badge or logo, what would you expect the second-hand retail value, reliability and performance to be for that brand or make of car? Now picture the exact same car but swap the Ford badge for a BMW badge. Has your opinion of the car changed? Would you expect better or worse performance and a higher or lower retail value? That’s the power of the brand.

It only takes one bad experience over the telephone to destroy millions of dollars or advertising
Bob Ayling
Former CEO, British Airways

The Value of Brands

By building and protecting your brand you can add value to your company. A successful brand can create greater value and volume, stronger bargaining power, lower retention costs, stronger recruitment, higher price to earnings ratio and a central organising principle. For the Fortune500, brand is the most valuable intangible asset, accounting for around 30% of total value. A brand can increase company resiliency and competitiveness during challenging financial times.

What is the relevance of IP?

IP presents an opportunity to take ownership of the distinctive and individual profiling by which companies are recognised and understood as well as new elements of performance and communications. For example, a company uses an original design for their logo within their logo design are intellectual property rights. Over time a company may build a reputation for reliability, professionalism and value for money – the company’s customers will associate that brand (and that logo) with those qualities. By owning a leveraging, the IP within their logo and wider brand this company can gain exclusivity and increase profitability.

How to protect your brand assets?

  • Trademark registration offers exclusivity of use of the IP within your brand.
  • Trademarks can be; phrase, word, shape, logo, sound, colour, packaging.
  • Saleable asset: holding exclusive rights can add value to business saleability.
  • Commercial revenue: the IP within your brand can be licensed/franchised to create additional revenue whilst retaining those IP rights.
  • Enforcement support: offers the ability to take action against infringement of your rights.

It is important to do your research, at the beginning of your brand journey, to ensure you do not risk infringement of other people’s rights and subsequent potential enforcement action against you and your company. Research your company name, check the trademark register and check domain names to ensure they are not already in use. Companies house does not constitute, and is not a substitute for, a trademark registration.

Trademark registration will also require you to make a classification of goods or services to which your trademark may be applied for present and future and consideration should be given to registration in different countries. Trademark registration costs £170 to apply, and takes 5-15 days to receive an examination report, more information can be found here.

The value in your brand can be built on unregistered and registered IP rights including Copyright, Design and Patent.

  • Copyright – automatic protection (unregistered design rights), covers literary works, art & photography, films & TV, music, broadcasts, software & databases and web content.
  • Design – automatic protection for shape and configuration of 3D objects, 2D graphics, textiles and wallpaper require registration (registered design right).
  • Patent – Register through IPO (can be expensive and difficult to obtain), covers inventions, can me made or used, must be new or ‘novel’ or have scientific applications.

You can visit your local Growth Hub for more advice on building and protecting your brand.

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