Trademarks are everywhere in
society, the subconscious within us recognises these logos, scents, sounds and
even feel of a brand without us actually realising what we are doing. For
example, I bought an orange flavoured fizzy drink last week and immediately
went for the bottle with the distinctive shape, which happened to be the Fanta
bottle. Without me realising I had bought this product I had already been
subject to their marketing strategy.
Through reading about Intellectual
property (IP) I have become more aware of how businesses use their trademarks,
and how they manage to make their way into our minds without us realising or
allowing them to do so. It is important to ensure that businesses understand
the importance of their IP as it is possible for duplication or renditions of
these IP’s to occur.
So the question then stands, How
can businesses protect their IP? There are numerous ways a business can protect
its IP such as being aware of other trademarks in society – possibly employ
specific people to go around areas to look for trademarks similar to their own
(e.g Mcdonalds staff looking for other food outlets with a big M in their
logo). Patents are also important to secure, such as not talking about your
patent to 3rd parties, also having a written agreement.
It is important for a business to
understand ownership of IP rights as the owner of the IP might not realise they
are actually the owner for example who owns the IP if an employee comes up with
an idea and the employer uses that idea?
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