iSummit October 1, 2013
Branding Selecting and Protecting Your Brand
Orlando, Florida www.lowndes-law.com
Courtney M. Dunn Registered Patent Attorney, Senior Associate
© 2011 Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A. All Rights Reserved
Orlando, Florida | www.lowndes-law.com
Why should I care about branding?
iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
Orlando, Florida | www.lowndes-law.com
$113.7 B $185 B
$45.7 B
$75.5 B
$69.8 B
$112.5 B BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2013, Millward Brown iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
Orlando, Florida | www.lowndes-law.com
How your brand can work for you
• Distinguish your business from competitors • Be a revenue producing asset (sale or license) • Be a working asset (security for loan)
iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
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How others’ brands can work for you Piggyback on the advertising and goodwill of well known brands.
Just be careful… It can also work against you. iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
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Common Branding Mistakes
• Picking a brand without researching others’ uses first • Picking a brand that can’t be protected (or that is not worth attempting to protect) • Improperly using a trademark
iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
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Dangers of Picking and Using the Wrong Mark • Willful infringement - treble damages • Rebranding after substantial investment • Actual confusion of brand • Expensive to fight infringement suit from either side
iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
MCSLEEP™
METRO™
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Advantages of Picking and Using the ‘Right’ Mark • Easier to prevent and stop others from using same/similar mark • Makes your brand stand out among your competitors (you don't want consumers confusing your products/services for products/services of inferior quality) • Easier to build goodwill / consumer confidence with the mark when consumers can clearly differentiate your brand from another's • Avoids the cost of rebranding or litigating questionable trademarks
iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
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Brands are protectable under trademark law Any indicator (name, symbol or slogan) that distinguishes the source of a particular product or service.
TM
® iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
Orlando, Florida | www.lowndes-law.com
Trademark Examples
iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
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Common Misconceptions • Difference between company name and company’s brand º º
e.g The Coca-Cola Company Corporation vs. COCA-COLA® Available corporate name (Sunbiz search) ≠ available or protectable brand
• Difference between company’s domain name and company’s brand º º
e.g. books.com vs. BARNES & NOBLE® Available domain names ≠ available or protectable brand
• Difference between describing goods/services and branding º
e.g. “automobiles” for automobiles vs. LEXUS® for automobiles
iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
Orlando, Florida | www.lowndes-law.com
Words
“Apple”, “Yahoo”, “Motorola”
Phrases
“Life’s Good”, “Write Once, Run Anywhere”
Colors
Home Depot Orange
Sounds
(NBC chimes)
Smells
Plumeria scent for sewing thread
Shapes iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
Symbols
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Descriptive*
Pet Land
Suggestive
Arbitrary
Dairy Queen
Apple
* Allowable if distinctiveness has been acquired, e.g. McDonald’s
iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
Fanciful
Google
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Picking the Right Mark: Weak Marks Pet City
Pet World Pet Land
Pet Town
Pet Village
Descriptive marks provide almost NO scope of protection iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
Orlando, Florida | www.lowndes-law.com
Picking the Right Mark: Strong Marks
Banana
Avocado
Apple Cherry
Granny Smith
iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
Orlando, Florida | www.lowndes-law.com
Picking the Right Mark: What Cannot be Trademarked? •
Plain Numbers º º
• • • • • • • • •
e.g 586 (Intel) 7-Up is okay
Scandalous Matter Disparaging Matter False Connection Government insignia/Flags Names of the living Surnames* Geographically descriptive* Merely descriptive/mis-descriptive* Corporate name º
GOOGLE® is okay; Google, Inc. is not
• Any mark that would create a likelihood of confusion with a prior trademark • generic *allowable if distinctiveness has been acquired iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
Orlando, Florida | www.lowndes-law.com
Picking the Right Mark – Due Diligence • Internet Search • USPTO search – only applied-for marks • Clearance Search and opinion by an attorney
iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
Orlando, Florida | www.lowndes-law.com
Legal Protections Available •
•
Common Law º Use in Commerce º Free º Use of the ™ symbol State Registration º º º
•
Available for marks used strictly inside a state Attorney’s fees Use of the ™ symbol
Federal Registration º º º
Use of the ® symbol Provides public notice of ownership claim Creates a legal presumption of a party’s • •
º
Treble damages for willful infringement
iSummit, October 2013 Intellectual Property
ownership of the mark Exclusive right to use the mark
CONTACT INFO
Courtney M. Dunn
[email protected] 407-418-6465
Orlando, Florida www.lowndes-law.com
Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, PA 215 North Eola Drive Orlando, FL 32801 www.lowndes-law.com
© 2011 Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A. All Rights Reserved