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Copyright, Intellectual Property, Internet and ecommerce, On the Blog

No one likes a copycat!

Posted by Kate Ritchie on 1 December 2014

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5 Tips to Protect Your Online Content

Communicating your business messages and personal branding online is a fantastic, cost-effective way to reach out to and engage with, potential clients on a global scale.

However, the internet is rife with plagiarism and copyright infringement and protecting content can be a headache for business owners. Similarly, ensuring you do not infringe someone else’s material can also pose serious potential problems.

So, how do you ensure your material is original and that you own it? Alternatively, how do you stop would-be infringers stealing your ideas? Here are our 5 of our top tips to protect your online content.

1. Use copyright notices

Copyright notices are not mandatory, but they can act as a deterrent for would-be infringers by placing them on notice that your material and content is subject to copyright protection.

To use a copyright notice, all you need to do is insert the copyright symbol © followed by the year that the material was created and the name of the owner of the material. You can also include the words “All rights reserved”. For example, © 2014 Ethikate. All rights reserved.

It really is that easy! And those who are thinking about using your content may think twice if they see a copyright notice at the bottom of your material.

2. Brand your content

Content has a great habit of being shared and going ‘viral’ online. This is not such a bad thing as it can be a great opportunity to promote your business globally.

However, if it is not clear whose content it is, then it is kind of pointless right? Plus, no one likes a copycat, so it is important to ensure that your content is easily recognisable as being yours.

One way to do this is to ensure that all content is in a format that is not so easily editable (eg pdf, jpeg, unable to be selected and copied text) and has your brand applied to the document. You can do this by inserting your logo as an image or watermarking the content with your brand or web address. This has the benefit of not only protecting your work from being reproduced or wrongly attributed to someone else, but is also a great way to further promote your business.

3. Use a plagiarism program

Where you generate lots of content, including blogs and articles, it is really important to ensure you are not infringing someone else’s material. Even if you do so ‘innocently’, you can still be liable for copyright infringement.

There are many great online plagiarism programs you can use which allow you to upload content and have the program review your content against all available online content.

Using such programs is also really important if you outsource your content. A good plagiarism program will flag sections of your material that ‘matches’ online content, providing you with the online source and a percentage match. I use an online program called grammerly which seems to be accurate, reliable and has the benefit of being cost effective. However, it seems to work quite slowly when attempting to use larger documents for review.

It is important to note that copyright infringement is not determined by quantity or percentage, but by substance (or otherwise technically referred to as a “substantial part”). Hence it is important to consider whether the content is original and whether or not it constitutes a substantial part of the original works. This may be as a short as a single tagline or phrase, however if it is the most memorable part of the original material, then be wary as you may be at risk of copyright infringement. Acknowledgement of the copyright owner can assist you in certain circumstances but it is not the answer for business using content for their own commercial gain. If in doubt, seek legal advice or remove the potentially infringing content.

4. Get an assignment or licence

If you are planning to outsource your design work, or any other artistic or creative work, it is essential that you own, or at least have the ‘freedom to operate’, using the work. Without a contract to the contrary, your contractor will own the copyright in any work that they create for you.

For example, where you engage a graphic designer to develop a logo for you, if there is nothing in your terms of services to say that all copyright vests in you, then your graphic designer will own the copyright in your logo. This can have implications when it comes time for you to sell or licence your business or just a part of it, such as the brand. So, make sure your contractors hand over (in writing, verbal is not an effective transfer of ownership!) the copyright in your brand and any other work created exclusively for you.

If third parties, like contractors, already own the copyright in your brand or other material then it is worth considering whether an assignment (transfer of ownership) is worthwhile. This can be tricky and often designers are reluctant to relinquish their rights. However, in my view, any professional and ethical contractor that provides your business with exclusively created material (especially a logo for your brand) for valuable consideration, should be happy to assign the copyright to you.

5. Get the content removed

The good news is that there are ways to have content removed from the internet when it infringes your copyright. For example, you can lodge a dispute with the relevant social media platform and report infringing content. However, you will need to be prepared to properly articulate your rights and demonstrate that you own the content, which can be tricky where it is not obvious that you own the content.

You can also issue the alleged infringer with a cease and desist notice. These can be effective where it is clear who is infringing your work and if they are based in Australia. However, issuing such a notice is not so straightforward when the infringer’s identity is unclear and they are based overseas as can often be the case.

It is also critical to be aware that sending someone a cease and desist notice without grounds can constitute an offence under the Copyright Act. Cease and desist notices should never be issued without having proper grounds to do so. Hence, you must clearly articulate in the notice why you believe they are infringing your copyright and take care with the language used in a notice. It is always best to seek professional legal advice before taking any action against an alleged infringer.

Where to from here?

Copyright is a very technical area of law. There are serious liability issues for a business that infringes someone else’s copyright works or makes unjustified threats regarding copyright infringement, against someone else. Therefore, it is essential that you invest in getting the right legal advice from a lawyer that specialises in copyright.

Ethikate specialises in copyright law. If you believe someone has infringed your content or you would like to learn more about how you can how you can protect your copyright material, contact us for a no obligation, initial consultation.

 

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Brand Protection, Intellectual Property, On the Blog, Trade Marks

Part 5: Enforcement: Why you need to implement your brand protection strategy

Posted by Kate Ritchie on 29 November 2014

blog5

You’ve worked hard to build your brand and protect it. So now it’s time to enforce it.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve considered what it takes to create a strong brand and how to protect it at home and overseas. In the final part of this series we’ll look at some of the ways you can implement your brand protection strategy and enforce your trademark rights.

Methods of protection

As we’ve discussed, brand protection encompasses the measures taken to prevent someone from illegally making and selling a product, or offering services using a brand name owned by another company. A strong brand protection strategy will help to safeguard your most valuable asset, but you need to use it and enforce it decisively, or you will lose the protection and value in your brand, that you’ve worked so hard to build.

Fortunately, businesses can protect their brands by implementing various legal processes. We discuss some of these below.

Using the TM & ® symbols

As we discussed in part three, trademark registration is one of the most effective ways to protect your brand in the market. Once your trademark is registered you should consider using the ® trademark registration symbol on your branded material.

The trademark registration symbol ® can only be used for trademarks that registered in Australia. You can also use the trademark registration symbol in overseas markets, but your brand will need to be registered as a trademark in those countries and you need to ensure you are also are adhering to any local conventions. If you don’t have a registered trademark yet in Australia or in your overseas markets, then you can use the ™ symbol.

It is not compulsory to use the ® or the ™ symbol, but its inclusion will give your brand a sense of qualification and act as a deterrent for would be infringers.

Use it or lose it!

Once you register a trademark you must use it in the form it is registered and for the goods and service for which it is registered, to prevent your trademark registration from becoming vulnerable to removal from the register, for non-use.

Anyone can apply for the removal of a trademark for non-use. It is then up to you as the trademark owner, to oppose the removal action and provide valid reasons for why you believe your trademark should remain registered. You will also need to produce satisfactory evidence in support of your opposition to the application for removal.

Diligent trademark owners should keep records of their use on file as this can be very useful not just to defend non-use actions but also to rely on as evidence of your reputation in your trademark, your prior rights and your ownership.

Controlling use

If you are allowing others to use your trademark, then it is important that you control that use. The most common way to control authorised use of a trademark is with a trademark licence. A good trademark licence will include details of the trademark or trademarks that can be used, how they can be used, where, when, the fee for the use and for what purpose the licensee can use the trademark. If you don’t control the authorised use of your trademark then you risk waiving your rights in the trademark.

Common licensees include manufacturers, sponsors, distributors and retailers, franchisees, contractors and consultants.

Watching & monitoring

As a general rule, your brand protection strategy should include watching and monitoring.

Trademark monitoring involves systematically checking for newly filed trademark applications that are similar to your trademark registrations and may adversely affect the value of your brand, your business reputation and your trademark rights, should they be registered. Observing competitors in this way will allow to you to deal swiftly with any threats or infringements on your brand.

Trademark monitoring should also include inspection of business and company names, domain names, social media profiles, websites, directories and search engines, marketing and advertising material and published content such as blogs. Not only will online monitoring of your brand protect you from would be infringers of your trademarks, but can also mitigate your risk of infringing someone else’s. As well as protecting against online threats, monitoring your brand online can allow you to measure how your brand is performing and how effective your reach and impact is.

If you identify a particular brand or trademark that may be problematic for your business, then you should implement a trademark watching process that monitors a specific trademark application or brand.

Cease and desist letters

If you suspect an individual or business of infringing on your brand, you can send a “cease and desist” letter. Also known as an infringement letter or a demand letter, they contain a warning and deadline to cease specified conduct and actions. Cease and desist letters can be an effective way of resolving potential issues before they have a chance to develop.

Be aware that there are risks in sending out a cease and desist letter including action being taken against you for groundless threats or misleading or deceptive conduct (to name but a few!). If you do wish to send one out, we urge you to engage a lawyer who is experienced in brand protection to do it for you. That way you invest a little bit of money upfront to save a lot of potential costs and liability if you get it wrong.

Opposition proceedings

Another important strategy you can use to enforce your trademark rights is to oppose new trademark applications that conflict with your brand or otherwise should not be registered. The benefit of this is two-fold. The first being that you are preventing others (usually competitors) from devaluing your trademark rights and diluting your market presence. Secondly, you are saving yourself a lot of heartache if you decide to lodge new trademark applications that incorporate the conflicting trademark. What does this mean? If you allow your competitors to register a trademark that is similar to yours, it is more likely than not that future trademark applications that you wish to lodge for your brand will be stopped by your competitors trademark. What’s more, you won’t be able to enforce your rights against this competitor in the future. They now have a defence and you may be viewed as having waived your rights to action against them. This highlights the importance of understanding the potential costs and ramifications of not taking action to protect your brand and why it might be more cost effective (and valuable!) to take action.

An opposition kicks off by lodging a notice of intention to oppose a trademark application with the Australian Trademarks Office, within a 2 month opposition period. You will then have one month to lodge your statement of particulars which sets out the grounds of your opposition. If the applicant of the trademark defends the opposition, then you will enter opposition proceedings, notwithstanding the option of a cooling off period where the proceedings are suspended so that the parties can negotiate a settlement.

Oppositions, like any legal proceeding, can be scary for small business owners but they needn’t be. In my experience, by adopting a smart, upfront strategy to oppose, these proceedings typically go into a cooling off period whereby the parties can negotiate a sensible, commercial solution that, if successful, puts an end to the proceedings.

Court proceedings

If all else fails, business owners can start court proceedings against the parties believed to be infringing on their brand and trademark rights. Proceedings can cover aspects such as trademark infringement, misleading or deceptive conduct, copyright infringement and passing off. Court proceedings should be a last resort only where previous attempts to resolve the matter have been unsuccessful.

For more information on how to protect against trademark infringement, misleading or deceptive conduct or passing off, read part two of this blog series.

The next step

As we’ve demonstrated, creating a strong brand protection strategy is essential in protecting your brand and assets, but you need to be proactive and willing to enforce it. Here at Ethikate we pride ourselves on being brand protection specialists. We can work with you to (1) create and implement a strong, tailored brand protection strategy; and (2) enforce your brand and trademark rights for you. Click here to find out more!

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Brand Protection, Intellectual Property, Internet and ecommerce, On the Blog, Trade Marks

Part 4: Protecting your brand overseas

Posted by Kate Ritchie on 7 November 2014

Global trade

 

Time to enter the global market? Protect your brand with international trade mark registrations

So far in this five-part series, we have discussed the importance of creating a strong brand protection strategy in order to safeguard your assets here in Australia.

But what happens when you decide to expand your business and tackle the global marketplace? This post considers some of the steps you’ll need to take to ensure you are protected and operating legally in your overseas markets.

Do your research

Unfortunately, ‘global trade mark registration’ or ‘international trade mark registration’ does not exist, so you will need to undertake significant research on the laws and conventions of your chosen country to establish how best to protect your brand there. This is no easy task and in any case, you will almost always need to engage a lawyer or attorney either in Australia and/or in each of the overseas markets to assist you with this process.

You will also need to ensure that you are able to operate legally without infringing on any existing rights held by similar businesses within your industry, in each relevant overseas market. Trade mark registration is recognised on a per country basis, with the exceptions of Europe and Africa where regional trade mark registrations are also available.

Clearance checks and legal processes will need to be implemented; many of which are not dissimilar to those here in Australia, but they do vary. So, keep reading!

Options for registering your trade mark overseas

There are two options for overseas trade mark registration which we set out below.

1. Madrid Protocol

This is a process of international registration under a treaty recognised as the Madrid Protocol. Australia is a party to the agreement under the Madrid Protocol. Hence, where you have filed a trade mark application in Australia, registering international trade marks under the Madrid Protocol involves filing a single international trade mark application directly to the Australia Trade Marks Office (IP Australia), designating which countries or regions of the Madrid Protocol you wish to be registered for, accompanied by the designated fees.

This is generally the most straightforward option as it is both time and cost-effective where you intend to register in more than one overseas market. However, one potential disadvantage of using the Madrid Protocol for international registrations is that, if your application in Australia fails to register, so too does your international registrations. Hence, you should be confident that your Australian trade mark application has good prospects of achieving registration before registering overseas using the Madrid Protocol.

It is also important to remember that any of the countries included in your Madrid Protocol application can choose to reject your registration request. If this happens, you will need to engage a qualified trade marks agent in that country to prosecute the trade mark application on your behalf. This can sometimes result in more cost to you than had you filed the application directly with those agents in the first place!

2. Country-by-country

If you want to focus your international expansion on one or two overseas markets, you may decide to tailor your overseas protection strategy on a country-by-country basis. This can sometimes be tricky, as local laws and conventions can vary greatly. You will also need to engage a domestic lawyer or attorney in each of those countries who is qualified to file and prosecute the trade mark applications on your behalf. This option can become very expensive and time consuming if you wish to register in more than one or two overseas markets.

With regards to European protection, you can apply for a ‘Community Trademark’, which enables you to lodge a singular application for protection in all 27 EU member states. However, Community Trademarks by their nature are prone to opposition as conducting clearance searches in 27 countries is not generally feasible and so your risk of conflicting with similar marks in one or more of the EU member states can be quite significant.

Conventions, priorities and deadlines

Whichever option you use, it is also important to keep in mind that international conventions and each country have strict time limits and ‘priority dates’, and not all are the same.

Many countries and regions including China, Japan, German, Spain and Korea, operate on a ‘first to file’ basis. This means that the first person to file and successfully register a trade mark in those countries will be deemed the owner of that trade mark. This can create issues where you may have been using your trade mark in one of these countries, but didn’t register it straightaway. If someone else registers your trade mark in these countries first, it will be very difficult to claim your right of ownership. The owners of well-known brands such as Penfolds, Apple, Ferarri, Pfizer as well as celebrities including Justin Beiber and Michael Jordan are just some who have fallen victim to China’s trade mark ‘squatters’ as a result of China’s ‘first to file’ principle. Unless you have lots of time and money to start a brand war in China you will find it almost impossible to reclaim ownership of your brand in these countries. This is very different to Australia (and other countries such as the US and Canada) where prior use is recognised as a prior right of ownership of a brand, regardless of who files the trade mark application first.

Many countries allow you to extend your existing Australian registration and accept it as protected in that country after completing certain formalities. This is a result of these countries signing up to treaties and conventions such as the Paris Convention. Where you apply for protection in a contracting country of the Convention and then apply for protection in other contracting countries, within six months of the date you filed your original application, you can claim ‘priority’ so that protection for your trade marks in each contracting country will backdate to the original filing date of that first application.

Hence, if you file a trade mark application in Australia, you will have six months to file trade mark applications in other contracting countries such as the US, Canada or the UK and protection for these overseas trade marks will backdate to the date you first filed your trade mark application in Australia. For more information check out The World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) website for the list of the 176 contracting countries to the Convention.

The Paris Convention doesn’t prevent you from filing a trade mark application overseas at a later date. However if you don’t file within the six month timeframe, your overseas trade mark applications will lose priority under the Convention. Hence, protection will only apply on and from the date you filed or registered the overseas application, depending on the local laws of that particular country. So it is important to consider your international brand protection strategy around the same time you file your Australian trade mark application.

Is overseas brand protection really necessary?

In a word, yes! With the online world creating a global market for businesses of all shapes and sizes, international protection of your brand is more important than ever. So, if you are intending to promote and sell your goods or services in overseas markets (eg via your ecommerce website) then you need to ensure that you can do so freely and have the necessary protection in place, just as you do in Australia.

Choosing not to register and protect your interests outside of Australia allows the possibility for others to make use of your brand overseas and potentially harm your reputation and/or opportunities for international expansion.

Here are some factors to consider when deciding whether or not to protect your brand overseas:

  1. Are you exporting products, selling your services, or promoting or licensing your brand in overseas markets?
  2. Where are sales most likely to occur, at least initially and, most significantly?
  3. Where do you want to prevent competitors from using your brand?
  4. Is your brand in use or intended to be used in a “first to file” country?
  5. Are you trading in high risk counterfeit and piracy countries such as China, Korea or Taiwan?

So, what next?

Tackling overseas protection quite complex and therefore daunting for business owners, despite international treaties and conventions such as the Madrid Protocol. At Ethikate we are experienced and knowledgeable on overseas trade mark registrations and can offer specialist advice on how you can create a strong international brand protection strategy.

We will provide cost-effective, tailored solutions specific to your businesses’ expansion plans and can manage your international trade mark applications for you, right through to registration.

Contact us to speak to an experienced intellectual property lawyer and trade marks attorney about your international brand protection strategy today.

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Brand Protection, Business Names, Intellectual Property, On the Blog, Trade Marks

Part 3: What’s in a trademark and (not) in a business name?

Posted by Kate Ritchie on 24 October 2014

 

So far in this five-part series, we have discussed the importance of creating a strong brand through components such as your business name, your logo and tagline, and even the colours you use within your advertising materials. We have also considered how businesses and their brand identities can be protected by legal procedures such as trademark registration.

But are trademarks and business names the same thing? In short, the answer is no. Whilst registering either can give your business and brand elements of protection, trademark registration is the only way you can really be effectively and fully protected by the law.

What is a trade mark?

A trademark is a sign used, or intended to be used, to distinguish goods or services dealt with, or provided, in the course of trade by a person from goods or services so dealt with or provided by any other person (Trade Marks Act 1995, s17).

Commonly referred to as a ‘badge of origin’, essentially, a trade mark is a distinctive sign that is applied to goods or services to identify the source of those goods or services. There is no limit to what constitutes a ‘sign’ in trademarks law. Hence, it can be anything from your brand name to the design of your logo or even the colours of your brand.

As mentioned previously, trademark registration is one of the most effective ways to protect your brand in the market. Trademark registration means that you have an asset for your business which can be sold, licensed to others or used as a form of security. You can control the use of the brand and stop others from using it. Trademark registration also places the public on notice of your rights which can be an effective deterrent for would-be infringers.

What is a business name?

Simply, it is the name under which a business trades. It differs from a trademark in that it is a compliance requirement, not an asset protection tool. A business name must be used exactly as it is registered, but there are no exclusive rights in a business name. So, you have little to no rights to stop your competitors from registering and using similar business names.

Nevertheless, choosing a business name remains an important part of your brand creation strategy and will help in conveying the right image when attracting your core customer base. Having a distinctive business name will allow you to be easily identifiable from your competitors, as well as providing a flavour of the range and quality of the goods or services you offer.

Once you have decided on your business name, you will need to check it against the national Business Names Register. Here, you can search existing business names and enter information to ensure the name you want to register is available to use. However, be warned that the Business Names Register only searches for identical business names that are registered and is not an effective brand availability or clearance searching tool.

Before registering your business name, you should also establish that there are no trade marks already registered for it or in use in the marketplace. This could not only prevent costly legal procedures in the future, but will give you peace of mind that you have the exclusive rights to use your business name as a brand without infringing someone else’s brand.

So what is the next step?

As you know, here at Ethikate we are brand protection and trademark registration specialists. We can not only assist you to develop effective brand protection strategies during the brand development phase, but we can also guide you through the legal processes of implementing these strategies including registering your brand as a trademark.

Having a strong brand protection strategy is essential when it comes to safeguarding your most valuable asset, so contact us today to get started!

Want to stay up to date with our blog and all things brand and IP? Sign up today to receive our newsletter Ethikately IP directly to your inbox.

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Brand Protection, Copyright, Intellectual Property, On the Blog, Trade Marks

Part 2: Safeguarding your brand: why you need a brand protection strategy

Posted by Kate Ritchie on 14 October 2014

trade marks melbourne stand out branding

As we discussed in Part 1, in today’s increasingly competitive marketplace, having a strong brand is fundamental in establishing your business and its’ edge over your rivals. Once you’ve taken the time and effort to create a strong brand it is essential that you take steps to put in place an effective brand protection strategy.

What is a brand protection strategy?

Brand protection encompasses the measures taken to prevent someone from illegally making and selling a product, or offering services using a brand name owned by another company. In short, a brand protection strategy helps to safeguard your most valuable asset.

A good brand protection strategy will not only identify your prospects of registering and being able to protect your brand, but can mitigate your risk of infringing someone else’s brand. In turn this will lead to a more valuable brand, as well as saving you money in the long run.

How does brand protection work?

Brand protection starts with several legal processes that need to be completed correctly to ensure that you are fully compliant with, and covered by, the law.

Many start-ups and small businesses are of the misconception that registering a business name gives them the exclusive rights to use that name as their brand. However, the only way to ensure you have the rights to use your brand in the market is to get professional trademark clearance searches performed, accompanied by the right legal advice, and then to implement an appropriate strategy to ensure that you can maintain those rights exclusively.

Trademark clearance searching is an important risk management tool for business and should be done during the brand development stage. It identifies any potential issues early on and is a gauge for determining your freedom to operate in the marketplace using your brand. This can ultimately save thousands of dollars on unwanted expenses such as legal and rebranding costs.

Brand protection options

There are several legal avenues to consider when creating your brand protection strategy. We set out some key options for protecting your brand below.

Trademark registration

Trademark registration is one of the most effective ways to protect your brand in the market. Under the Trade Marks Act 1995, trademark registration grants businesses a statutory right to exclude others from using the trade mark for the goods and services for which it is protected. The registration can be renewed perpetually every ten years, and protection is Australia-wide.

A trademark registration can protect most elements of your brand. It can protect the brand name, a tagline or phrase, product packaging or shapes (including the product itself), a logo or pictorial design, brand colours, a scent, a sound and even a movement that is distinctive of your brand! The options for trademark registrations are not limited as long as the trademark is distinctive, is being used in trade and does not describe the type, kind of location of the goods or services that you are selling.

Most importantly, a trademark registration means that you have an asset for your business which can be sold, licensed to others or used as a form of security. You can control the use of the brand and stop others from using it. If you sell goods you can even arrange for customs to stop counterfeit or otherwise infringing goods entering Australia. Trademark registration also places the public on notice of your rights which can be an effective deterrent for would-be infringers and can save you the cost of actively trying to stop them using a trademark that is similar to yours.

Misleading or deceptive conduct

It is illegal for a person to engage in conduct, in trade, that is likely to create a false impression about goods or services in the marketplace. This is referred to as misleading or deceptive conduct under Australian Consumer Law and State equivalents. Misleading or deceptive conduct is not restricted to written words; it can constitute spoken words, images and even gestures. A company can engage in misleading or deceptive conduct through the actions of its employees or agents.

Passing off

Passing off is an action recognised by the courts under ‘common law’ and can be used to enforce both registered and unregistered trademarks. Passing off protects your business reputation and goodwill built up through your brand, from unauthorised use of one or more elements of your brand (or something similar) that wrongly implies some kind of association or affiliation with your business. This action is particularly important where your brand or a similar version of it is applied to inferior goods or services. Passing off has similar elements to the misleading or deceptive conduct provisions under Australian Consumer Law, though arguably there are greater obstacles to overcome in order to be successful in passing off. Further, unlike trademark registration, protection is limited to the geographic region where you trade and so if you are only trading in say, the greater Melbourne area, it is going to be very difficult for you to stop someone using a similar brand outside of Melbourne. Further, you must be able to prove that you have a significant reputation in your brand which can be costly, impractical and often unrealistic for small business.

Copyright protection

Copyright is the recognition of a person’s right to protect their original, intellectual effort (eg a logo design). In Australia, copyright is automatically protected under the Copyright Act 1967 for a term of 70 years post-death of the creator of the work.

Copyright protection is Australia-wide and to some extent global, via international treaties and conventions. Copyright often subsists in a logo and so it is important to ensure that you own the copyright in your logo by having it assigned to you when outsourcing the design. However, copyright will not stop people from using your brand name or other elements of your brand that lack originality. This is one reason why you need a more complete brand protection strategy that covers all distinctive elements of your brand.

How to get started

Not sure where to start? Don’t worry! Here at Ethikate we specialise in brand protection. We will work closely with you to create a tailored protection strategy that not only addresses your specific business needs and future plans, but is also cost-effective. Find out more here.

Stay tuned for Part 3…

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Brand Protection, On the Blog

Part 1: What is a brand and what is a “good” brand?

Posted by Kate Ritchie on 10 October 2014

What is a brand?

In today’s increasingly competitive marketplace, having an effective brand strategy is fundamental in establishing your business and its’ edge over your rivals.

But what exactly does the term “brand” mean? In a nutshell, your brand is you and embodies your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services and conveys how you want to be perceived.

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