Brand Protection Research Articles

The implications of intellectual property law for the auditing and protection of national and international brands: Part II. Brands in the grey market

Provides a practical snapshot of the legal situation governing the protection and exploitation of brand power within the European “grey market”. Predominantly, this occurs through the use and enforcement of intellectual property rights, namely the trade mark. However, legal events over the last year or so have fundamentally affected the antics of grey marketers and the subsequent powers granted to the owners of a range of branded marks, including famously lucrative names such as Levi’s, Nike and Calvin Klein. The recent pronouncements from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg together with national court decisions have created a degree of confusion. The landmark Silhouette Case has proved immensely controversial with regard to the operation of trade mark law throughout the European Union (EU). The decision seems to prohibit the importation into the EU of branded goods or services, unless such activity has been specifically consented to by the brand owner. At a glance, the culmination of these legal precedents seems to have dealt the grey market operators and traders a severe blow – with potentially adverse effects for the European consumer as well. Seeks to analyse recent events by providing the backdrop to the controversy and then putting the cases into perspective so as to offer sound and practical advice to all interested parties in the now modified grey market environment.

Traditional foods: challenges facing the European food industry

Brief analysis about the meaning of traditional food products and the delicate situation of this kind of product in a global market, where consumers are requiring a great amount of nutritional and cheap foods, is presented. These demands have contributed to the production and distribution of food stuffs by big industrial and commercial corporations that are looking for consumer satisfaction, thus homogenising what is eaten in each country, although with a great diversity of brands and displays. Traditional foods are thus restricted by the current conditions in the market but they have good perspectives for growing in the future if some challenges are accomplished. These challenges are communication (a traditional product is exotic in the other markets and then has to be advertised), legal protection of collective brands (insufficiently guaranteed in the different markets of the European Union), quality assurance (that, as in all the branded products must be a priority objective) and innovation. Most of these challenges will only be accomplished through an efficient and jointly shared organisation of the small industries that produce this kind of product.

The implications of intellectual property law for the auditing and protection of national and international brands: Part I. Brands in cyberspace

Examines the current protection afforded to brand owners within the realms of cyberspace, specifically the World Wide Web. Trade mark law currently provides a benchmark for the law and its attempt to regulate the problematical operation of Internet addresses and Web sites. These commercial sites can be contacted by potential customers through the operation of “Internet domain names”. It is the abuse of these valuable domain names, however, that has aroused considerable controversy for brand owners over recent years. In particular, the apparently powerful terrestrial brands have proved easy targets as cyberbrands – for those rather unscrupulous individuals seeking to take advantage of considerable brand goodwill by placing them on the Internet, only to ransom to the highest bidder, often the (terrestrially) “legitimate owners”. Brand owners must remain vigilant, and this article analyses the curent situation and offers sensible and practical advice for those seeking safe and cost‐effective brand exposure on the Information SuperHighway.

Protecting Intellectual Property on The Internet. Experience and Strategies of Trade Mark Owners in a Time of Chance

It is often stated that the protection of names, brands and trade marks on the Internet is a critical issue for intellectual property (IP) owners. However, while tales of infringement abound, there have been few court cases. IP specialists looking to establish a policy for the protection of names on the Internet need to assess the scale of the problem. What evidence of infringement or abuse exists? How are trade marks at risk-just in the domain name system or on other parts of the Internet? Can the courts or registration authorities be relied upon to support intellectual property owners? Is affordable net protection a myth or a reality for trade mark owners? This article attempts to quantify the risk of infringement or abuse of intellectual property, to examine measures of control proposed by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and to suggest policies that can be adopted to minimise the risk of infringement and to maximise the chance of successful action against infringers.

The wide world of branding

Much of this book is about the development and protection of global brands. However, it is important to recognise that at the present time most brands are not world brands at all — they are national brands that occupy a particular local niche and function only in their home markets. Such local brands fall into two categories: (1) Brands which are similar to other brands in other countries in terms of formulation, function and appearance but which for a number of reasons — for example, tariff barriers, established competition in overseas markets, trademark problems or lack of interest on the part of their owners — are not sold outside their home markets. (2) Brands which are so idiosyncratically adapted to their home markets that they are unlikely to have immediate appeal in foreign markets.

Brand protection: A means of protecting international branded fashion apparel

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of the relationship between brand management and channel management in the market for international branded apparel, in particular the creation of manufacturer dominated retail outlets. It draws attention to the need for manufacturers to examine carefully their distribution strategies as a means of protecting the investment that has taken place in order to create these internationally recognised brand names, eg Liz Clairborne, Berkertex, Austin Reed, Levi, Jaeger and Alexon. In developing their own distribution outlets, significant benefits can be gained that give greater protection to the brand, and prevent the brand dilution that takes place when merchandise is sold through secondary outlets, eg market stalls and small independents.

The End of the Open Range in Eastern Montana

Fromn the earliest days of the cattle business, some men were obsessed with the idea that the ra.n ge wvas overcrowded. Obviously, the fewer animals dependent upon a given amount of forage, the fatter they would get and the better would be their chances of going through a drought or a hard winter. JuLst when a range became overcrowded was, of course, impossible to determine. The importation or birth of one more animal detracted just so much from the chances of animals alrea.dy using the, range, and they vere that much more likely to graze the forage too closelv and kill it back. It wa.s to the interest of the cattlemen first on the ground, therefore, to prevent the bringing in of more animals and to increase the amount of range available. Eventua.lly, however, the great invasion of small ranchers and sheepmen turned the tide hopelessly against the range system. The old catt.lemen were then forced to turn to the protection of their interests, by providing feed in winter and by purchasing or leasing, when possible, large tracts of forage land. Thus they became accomplices in bringing about the end of the open range. Many were driven out of the game altogether, and most of those who remained were forced to reduce the size of their enterprises. It seems probable that some of the publicity given to the supposed overcrowding of the range, especially in the earlier period, was the result of the more or less conscious effort of the cattlemen already in possession to keep new herds off the range.' Often the cattlemen took more direct measures to exclude the newcomers. The power which, especially in the early years, the local cattlemen's associations exercised over the round-ups and the protection of brands, put these organizations in a, position to exercise effective control over the admission or exclusion of