Safeguard your brand to maximize its value!
Creating and developing a brand identity of a product or service is a very important procedure which plays a key role for the establishment of a brand. However, the most important issue for a brand is its protection and the legal tools that secure its uniqueness.
The provisions and rules of intellectual property law can be used for the protection of a brand, and in the light of such a capacity to guarantee the future and the development of a product or service.
Three are the most important issues that a brand owner must have in mind before taking any actions for the protection of his brand:
First issue: a brand owner must confirm that the name and the logo of the brand are protected as a trademark. A number of entrepreneurs tend to confuse the notions of “business name” and “company name” with the intellectual property right of “trademark”. In practice, a trademark grants exclusive rights to any unauthorized use of the name/logo (or any confusingly similar name/logo) of a brand. Also, the Cyprus IP Box provides a number of very attractive tax incentives which require the registration of a trademark in order to take effect. The trademark must be protected in all jurisdictions where the brand is distributed or sold. The protection of a trademark in a number of different jurisdictions can be made gradually.
Second issue: a brand owner, prior to taking any decisions for the legal protection of his brand, must specify the distinctive identity and the specific characteristics of the product or service. The elements of the identity of a brand can be protected in a number of different legal ways. Each entrepreneur, depending on the actual product or service he wishes to protect, has a number of options he should bear in mind before publishing his intellectual property. Also, internet and technology open the horizons of intellectual property rights so as to offer new ways of trustworthy international protection.
For instance, Apple managed to protect the representation of the layout of its retail stores as a 3-D trademark.
Third issue: equally strong with the above working towards the legal protection of a brand is that a brand must be accompanied by a complete and full “ip strategy” that will govern any issue that might arise between the employees, the associates, the graphic designers and generally between any parties that come across with the development of the brand. The more general, undefined and broad this issue is, the more exposed a brand is.
We live in the era of expertise and knowledge. It is very important every company which invests in innovation and originality to adopt a complete and full ip strategy in order to safeguard its brand. This is the only way to be prepared for the future and build a long lasting powerful brand.
