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Is this, like, a joke?

0 comments | Friday, 22 May 2009

I would take a guess that most of you possess, or have at least encountered one or more of the virtual explosion of products available in 'wipe' format that have appeared over the last few years. From the original baby wipe to the various antiseptic wipes, makeup removing wipes, floor cleaning wipes, dashboard wipes, leaf shine wipes etc etc that are now available. Even those ones aimed at the more paranoid end of the market designed, as shown in their accompanying advertising campaign, to clean-up after shaking someone's hand.

But chances are you haven't (yet?) encountered........"Wine Wipes".

Yep. That's right. Wipes for wine. But not for those awkward red wine spillages over your boss's carpet or a freshly laundered white shirt. These are specifically designed for avoiding those well-known afflictions of 'wine tattoo', 'tannin teeth' and 'grapey grin'. As the manufacturers state on their website, Wine Wipes contain "a proprietary blend of stain-removing and teeth protecting ingredients that cleans red wine off teeth and neutralizes palate. Just run Wine Wipes over your teeth and mouth, and order another round of red".

Now I know red wine, tobacco and certain foods can, over time, discolour and stain the teeth. But how much wine would need to be consumed in one evening to cause a build up so bad that would require instant attention? And at that point, would you really care? 

Maybe I'm missing something. A pearly white smile probably.

Link: Wine Wipes website 

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posted by Paul Nicholson

at 18:24 Permalink

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Marty Neumeier: Bridging the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design

0 comments | Wednesday, 20 May 2009

Here's a great presentation about brands and branding written by Neutron LLC's Marty Neumeier. It's a big slide deck but can be clicked through and read in only a few minutes. 

From a trademark perspective, it was refreshing to see, on slide 92, Marty's views on what elements make up a good name:
Item 1: Distinctiveness
.... Item 7: Protectability
When talking about distinctiveness, he was no doubt referring to how the brand is perceived by consumers, but the issue is equally applicable to (and inextricably linked with) item 7. I also liked his comments about the interplay between trademarks and other brand cues for communicating with consumers.

My only other comment, regarding his list of 5 disciplines of brand building, viz:
 - Differentiate
 - Collaborate
 - Innovate
 - Validate
 - Cultivate

... is to add a sixth discipline:  er, "Registrate" (sic). Your trademark, that is.


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posted by Paul Nicholson

at 18:06 Permalink

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That's Torn It!

0 comments | Tuesday, 19 May 2009


Ever on the look out for interesting new products, I stumbled upon this new brand of portable first aid kits being marketed by UK business Canister under the excellently evocative brand name "OW!" Naturally, the logo is registered as a trade mark in the UK, but I was mildy intrigued by the representation of the logo design on the trade mark record (see above pic). Are the owners claiming the torn edge of paper as part of their mark, or was there a hasty rush to get the logo onto the scanner and filed at the trademark office before their competitors filed for "Doh!" or "£@*k!"?

Links:
See Canister UK's OW! website for more product information.

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posted by Paul Nicholson

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Community Trademark or Chocolate Biscuit?

0 comments | Monday, 18 May 2009

Wubbo de Boer, president of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) which administers the registration system for Community Trademarks and Designs, says Britain has been hardest hit by the recession in terms of the number of Community Trademarks filed this year.

In a recent interview in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, he said that whilst there had been an overall decline in applications of 6 per cent for the first quarter of 2009, British applications are down by 25 per cent. In response, it is perhaps encouraging to see that, as of 1st May, OHIM reduced its official fees for filing and registering a trade mark online from 1600Euros to 900Euros. 

Whilst the filing volumes of Community Trademarks are based on a wide range of economic factors and (one would hope) not driven solely by registration costs, it will be interesting to see if this reduction has any impact on filing rates in the coming months. The UK Intellectual Property Office certainly seem to think so, as can be seen from their 9 March press release when they announced their plans to begin a review of their fees and services with a public consultation. The overall thrust of the announcement is to seek reductions in the costs and ease of registration whilst ensuring the quality of services provided by the Office continue to be improved. Potential savings to UK businesses are estimated at £700,000 per annum which the Office hope will help reverse the 12 per cent downturn in 2008 UK filing rates.

With the apparent increase in the number of businesses out there who have not sought registration of their trademarks, can this all be about fee levels? Since trademark registration fees provide a 10 year period of protection for what is, for many businesses, one of their most valuable business assets, even when you add on trade mark attorney fees this probably equates to an annual equivalent of less than they spend on biscuits or having the executive car fleet washed. Aside from an expected decrease in the more "speculative" type of applications filed by the larger corporations in less lean times, are smaller businesses really making decisions about registering their brand names as trademarks solely based on fees?

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posted by Paul Nicholson

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Welcome to the Montana iP Trademark Blog

0 comments | Friday, 15 May 2009

This is the first post for this blog, which is directed primarily at brand owners to generate a wider knowledge and awareness of trademark and design protection, but is also open to trademark practitioners or anyone else with an interest in IP. The intention is to post articles about the steps brand owners should be taking to protect their intellectual property rights, highlight interesting news items from around the world featuring brand protection issues and to invite discussion around branding, brand naming and related IP issues. I also welcome contributions from anyone who wants to include an article or item of interest.

I look forward to hearing from you in the coming weeks.

posted by Paul Nicholson

at 18:24 Permalink

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