Dec 5, 2024

“If this company were to split up, I would give you the property, plant and equipment and I would take the brands and the trademarks and I would fare better than you.”

So said John Stuart, CEO of Quaker Oats for over 30 years illustrati...

Nov 1, 2024

A trademark is a powerful asset for any brand. However, this valuable protection comes with responsibilities, so that if you don’t use the mark in the way required by the law, you stand to lose it.

This is the approach of the law becaus...

Oct 3, 2024

Naming is a surprisingly complicated thing to do so I’m not surprised there are so many disputes around names. 

Some people believe you need to invent a new word to be able to trademark it – that ordinary dictionary words may not be mon...

Sep 5, 2024

Should you register your trademark yourself?

I regularly meet businesses that have either registered their own trademark or who tell me they intend to do so.

While I tend not to comment individually the fact is, I’ve never come across ...

Jul 19, 2024

There’s a very simple action you should take to protect your customer list.

Judging by the list of steps I found on the search engines, the action I have in mind isn’t well known.

This is what the search engine suggested.

1. Understan...

Jul 5, 2024

The UK's economic growth ambitions make this an important moment for businesses to get the fundamentals right. If you hope to foster greater success for your own or your clients' business, then take time to understand IP basics.

In the ...

Jun 20, 2024

Designing a business correctly involves understanding how intellectual property impacts it.

Far better to get rounded advice early on so you take the right steps to appropriately protect the business, than to reach decisions alone and ...

Jun 7, 2024

Today’s podcast interview is with Tom Gardner, a serial entrepreneur, who formerly worked at McKinsey.

During the interview, we discuss the various ways in which he tackled business design in several business ventures he’s initiated.

I...

May 23, 2024

Visual identifiers are signs that ensure our brands are noticed, remembered, and bought. 

In a competitive market it is important to differentiate our business to stand out from competitors. However, I would argue that it’s not appropr...

May 9, 2024

Someone asked about the dispute between Apple Corp and Apple Computers which reminds me of an aspect of names to mention.

While names may be shared provided two businesses are in non-overlapping industries, Apple was problematic from th...

Apr 26, 2024

A start-up wonders why they’ve received a ‘cease and desist’ letter from Hugo Boss. Surely, they can't stop us using the word ‘boss’ they say?

Well yes they can. 

It may be an ordinary word but Hugo Boss used it first in the fashion b...

Apr 18, 2024

Names that are distinctive in not describing the product or service are always the best choice from a legal perspective.

So, I wondered how a sandwich outlet like Subway managed to come up with such a distinctive name.

The business wa...