Covering All Your Bases
“Your market is really the world. From a brand perspective, you need to protect it everywhere or you risk erosion to the brand.”
These are the words of Patrick Keane, Executive Shareholder, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney P.C. (USA), who was responding to a question from the audience on how aggressively businesses should protect brands in areas where the business isn’t operating or plans to operate in the foreseeable future.
For Laure van Oudheusden, IP & Standards Manager of Health & Wellness and Personal Care at Philips Intellectual Property & Standards (the Netherlands), protecting the company’s US $11.5 billion parent brand is vital.
During CSA21 Generating Effective IP Protection Efficiently: Building a Trademark and IP Department for International Corporations, yesterday, she gave an example of Philips' approach even when the infringing product is not one which the company makes itself.
“It wouldn’t matter so much how many of these products we sell, it’s blatant infringement so we want to do something,” said Ms. van Oudheusden.
“That’s why we enforce our brand even on products where we’re not competing,” she said, adding that this type of infringement has a high impact on one of the biggest assets of the company.
Ms. van Oudheusden recommended a form of “double monitoring,” where the business monitors infringement as well as the IP team, “because the business knows better what the key threats are”.
She went on to explain that it’s easier for the business to track new entrants in the market and that it’s useful to promote a dialogue to prioritize actions.
“The less resources you have, the more you need to plan,” added Ms. van Oudheusden.
Philips Intellectual Property & Standards, which manages all the licensing and IP activity for Philips, works like any other type of business, responsible for creating value and controlling its costs.
Ms. van Oudheusden stated: “This governance model helps us to know how and where value is created and to focus on activities that create the most value.”
