In Short
- Register Trade Marks: Ensure exclusive rights and strengthen your position against infringement. Consider global trade mark protection via the Madrid Protocol.
- Protect and Monitor Your IP: Actively enforce trade marks, survey competitors for infringement risks, and safeguard web content and employment agreements.
- Leverage Branding: Use strategies like AdWords and competitor analysis to enhance and differentiate your brand.
Tips for Businesses
Protecting your brand involves more than registering trade marks. Regularly monitor competitors, enforce your IP rights, and secure international trade mark protection early if you plan to expand. Don’t forget to review employee agreements for IP clauses and safeguard your web content with copyright protections to avoid misuse by others.
Branding is crucial to the success of your business. However, branding refers to many areas and can be challenging to define. For instance, branding may cover your product or idea or the trade mark you use to distinguish your business’s goods and services. Protecting your company’s intellectual property (IP) has many benefits, including distinguishing your business in the marketplace and increasing brand awareness. This article explores seven ways to protect your brand.
Your business’ brand represents your values, identity and reputation. Learn how to create a successful brand and protect it.
1. Trade Marks
It can be easy to overlook registering your trade mark. However, ensuring that your business has exclusive rights to use your trade mark for the goods and services you offer is critical.
Applying to register your trade marks allows you to enforce your rights and prevent third parties (including competitors and copycats) from using or purporting a connection to your brand and associated trade marks. Further, trade marks can come in the form of a:
- distinctive logo;
- word;
- slogan;
- sound; or
- shape.
2. Police Your IP
Many business owners believe they can protect their brand simply by registering their trade mark with IP Australia. However, it is essential to monitor and police your trade mark use for enforcement purposes.
Trade mark enforcement is the trade mark owner’s responsibility. However, actions are available to stop this infringement if you notice a third party using your registered trade mark without your permission.
A registered trade mark will give you a solid position to take appropriate action against the infringing third party. Alternatively, someone who uses an unregistered trade mark may not have a solid position to take further action against an infringing party. This is because you can only allege trade mark infringement with a registered trade mark. Once you identify potential infringing conduct, you may speak with an intellectual property lawyer to help devise options for enforcement.
Continue reading this article below the form3. Survey Your Competition
It is healthy to have competition to keep your business on its feet. Awareness and attention to a competitor’s strategy and marketing can take your brand to the next level.
This can come in handy when policing your IP. By reviewing what your competitors are doing, you can determine whether there is any direct infringement of your rights.
Additionally, surveying your competition can help you identify gaps in the market and opportunities for brand differentiation. Here are some key aspects to consider when monitoring your competitors:
Brand Identity Analysis
Review your competitors’ visual branding, messaging, and overall market positioning regularly. This includes analysing their:
- logo design and evolution;
- colour schemes;
- marketing materials;
- website design; and
- social media presence.
This analysis can help ensure your brand remains distinctive and stands out in the marketplace.
Documentation and Record-Keeping
Maintain detailed records of your competitor research, including:
- screenshots of their marketing materials;
- copies of their advertisements;
- dates of significant brand changes; and
- any potential infringement concerns.
This documentation can be valuable if you need to demonstrate distinctiveness or challenge potential infringement in the future.
Market Positioning Strategy
Use your competitor research to:
- identify underserved market segments;
- develop unique selling propositions;
- refine your brand messaging; and
- adjust your marketing strategy as needed.
Remember that while it is important to be aware of your competition, your primary focus should be building and maintaining your distinctive brand identity. This balance ensures you stay competitive while developing your unique market position.
4. Leverage Complementary AdWords to Your Advantage
When registering your trade marks, you can commercially leverage their use in other ways (outside of enforcement). For instance, you may use a Google AdWords and content strategy to build your brand’s persona. Again, engaging a branding agency can be helpful in this regard, as it can help promote your brand to prospective clients or customers.
5. Think Global
Expanding beyond the country where you establish your brand is essential. Think about where you will expand your brand and secure the trade mark rights in these countries. Before your business becomes the next big thing in Australia, you must secure the pathway to becoming the next big thing globally.
You can file an international trade mark application via the Madrid Protocol system managed by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The Madrid Protocol filing system is convenient and cost-effective for registering and managing trade marks worldwide. Applicants can file a single application and apply for protection in up to 131 countries (as of 2024). They can then renew and expand the reach of their trade mark protection through this centralised system.
6. Manage Employees
Have you recently reviewed your employees’ employment agreements? Take care to confirm and ensure that your business’ employment contracts include specific clauses to address employee disclosure of trade secrets and the use of intellectual property developed under the business’s name.
7. Monitor and Protect Your Web Content
Copyright is a form of intellectual property right that protects the web content displayed on your website. Copyright is a free and automatic right granted to original works and media creators. Further, it is important to monitor the marketplace. You should speak with a lawyer to discuss options for approaching the third party if you see someone else using your:
- images;
- videos; or
- written content.
Key Takeaways
Protecting your brand as you grow your business and reputation in the marketplace is crucial. Some ways you can do this include:
- registering trade marks;
- trade mark enforcement;
- survey your competition;
- leverage complementary AdWords to your advantage;
- think global;
- manage employees; and
- monitor and protect your web content.
If you have further questions about what steps you can take to protect your brand, our experienced trade mark lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 1300 544 755 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Applying to register your trade marks allows you to enforce your rights and prevent third parties (including competitors and copycats) from using or purporting a connection to your brand and associated trade marks.
You can file an international trade mark application via the Madrid Protocol system managed by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The Madrid Protocol filing system is convenient and cost-effective for registering and managing trade marks worldwide. Applicants can file a single application and apply for protection in up to 131 countries (as of 2024). They can then renew and expand the reach of their trade mark protection through this centralised system.
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