SMART TA L K
There is no such thing as coincidence.
Just because a product name sounds
good or a logo looks good, or you
think it helps sell your product better,
it doesn’t mean you can just use it. More often
than not, a lot of work and a huge amount of
money has gone into making the name and logo
what it is.
Just as I was sitting down to write this month’s
column on the importance of trademarks for a
brand within our industry, I saw an article about
Apple taking legal action against a perceived
trademark infringement. Apple feels the similarity
of start-up company Prepear’s logo would cause
confusion within the consumer marketplace, as
well as encroaching on ‘Apple’s natural zone of
expansion’. I get that there are mixed reactions
to this with some people thinking, ‘Apple is just
a bully, Goliath fi ghting David and that it should
let it go’, but in the context of one company
actively defending the exclusivity of their brand
against the infringement of another, I have to take
Apple’s side. It is important for businesses to
protect their most important asset: their brand. It
often costs hundreds of thousands to create. The
brand also tells the consumer what to expect.
JUST GOOGLE IT
When a brand is created, the holy grail of any
outcome is for your brand’s trademarked name
to become a noun or verb. For those who
like words, it’s called Anthimeria. More often
than not these days, we’re going to ‘Google’
something rather than ‘look it up’: The same
thing happened with Hoover, Sellotape, Post It,
CashPoint, Band Aid, Super Glue, and so many
more. Each one of these products started out as
a trademark and brand of an individual product,
but most people now use the term to refer to an
explanation of what the product does and this is
regardless of the actual brand people are looking
at. I think you would be surprised to know, some
companies still have enforceable trademarks on
them.
MORE THAN A NAME OR LOGO
As a marketer myself it’s clear to me that the
brand and trademark are inseparable. The brand
is the sum total of the many parts of a company's
corporate face – logos, imagery, slogans, colours,
music – all of which contribute to the trust
developed between company and consumer. An
organisation's value is no longer based simply
on those tangible or fi xed assets though; more
often than not, it is the company’s intangible
assets, including brand reputation and goodwill,
that create the biggest market value, and this
is defi nitely true of the tech world. Trademarks
provide legal protection for the brand and ensure
the trust which has been built up is not called
into question or confused by other companies
using the trademark without permission or in
some cases passing off something sounding or
looking the same, like the new Prepear logo. This
is one reason why brands need to be proactive in
their protection.
To avoid trademark infringement, it is not
enough to swap words around, say I wasn’t
aware, or simply use the excuse of ‘words just
being words’ – you don’t own words. Of course,
I know no one can own a word, but someone
can legally own a word that means something
different to the consumer when thinking of that
word or combined words.
As I said, there are many elements that go
into forming a brand and the service it sells, and
words are an integral part of that. Using another
company’s words that are trademarked to
describe, in context, your own product that can
be similar in nature, can amount to trademark
infringement. I have invested an enormous
amount of time, money and energy in developing
Smart Ready and the service around it. So, it
shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear that I will
protect the brand.
It is part of a company’s responsibility to
do their research, to become commercially
knowledgeable about those that they share
the same market with and understand what
trademarks are already out there. Nowadays it’s
really easy, ‘just Google it’.
STAND BY YOUR MARK
We should all be proud to protect what we’ve
created either as individuals or as businesses,
and the window and door industry needs to
take branding and trademarks more seriously,
especially now that Smart is emerging for
windows and doors. Each of us has invested so
much time, money, and brain power in creating
our brands. So yes, I think Apple are right to
protect its TM and in just the same way I will
resolutely protect Smart Ready.
My advice? Sit down with a specialised lawyer
and do your research before you create a brand,
logo, or even settle on your company name.
Above all else, just because a name or logo looks
good and fi ts well with your product, it doesn’t
mean you can use it without consequence.
Trademarks matter
In the latest in a series of columns by Smart Ready’s Giovanni Laporta,
Gio looks at what goes into building a brand: the time, effort, and money
it takes to get it right, and ensuring the messaging that connects with
consumers is consistent with the brand’s intentions.
“Using another company’s words that are
trademarked to describe, in context, your
own product that can be similar in nature, can
amount to trademark infringement”
September www.ggpmag.com
/www.ggpmag.com
