CLASS 46
Now in its twelfth year, Class 46 is dedicated to European trade mark law and practice. This weblog is written by a team of enthusiasts who want to spread the word and share their thoughts with others.
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WEDNESDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER 2010
MARQUES RELOADED: Berlin brief no.3
"Internal affairs", the fourth and final element of today's MARQUES programme (chaired by Keltie R Sim, Smart & Biggar/Fetherstonhaugh), sought to offer a practical guide to do’s and don’ts for marketing professionals from a branding prospective. It opened with Nick Foot (HJ Heinz) reviewing the reasons why a brand-owning business might want to enter into a brand-licensing programme -- whether merely licensing the brands themselves or opting for something altogether more ambitious. The need to identify one's business objectives -- are they cash-oriented or strategic? -- and their appropriateness for one's brand are paramount. When choosing and dealing with licensees one must address issues involving term of licence, quality control, product liability and the burden of insurance, and so on. At present more licensing seems to be directed torwards raising publicity than towards the immediate generation of cash. In any event, a smooth follow-up is needed. This because the people who make the decision to license, those who negotiate and draft it and those who implement it are not the same.
Taking up the issues of do's and don'ts, Claire Mountenay (standing in at short notice for her Marks & Clerk colleague Kirsten Gilbert), focused on the trade mark law technicalities that attend a properly-executed licence and its implementation. For example, the validity of the registration of licensed marks may be affected if they are not used in the specified manner. It's also worth checking that a registration is held in the name of a live company and not one which has been wound up, or the mark may be classed as bona vacantia and (in the UK at any rate) owned by the Queen.
Left: does the Queen own your trade mark?
Claire then ran through some of the restrictions on advertising which the law and various codes of practice impose in the interests of health, honesty and fair play. These restrictions may themselves inhibit the scope of an intended exploitation of a licensed brand. Further restrictions govern the marketing of goods and services to children, among others.
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