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incorporated protects its brand
Mars incorporated protects its brand
Whether or not you indulge in them, you are probably familiar with the MARS
Bar. In the confectionery sector, it's one of the strongest brands on the supermarket
shelf today and, as a valuable piece of intellectual property, it's fiercely
protected by its owner, Mars, Incorporated.
The person responsible for coordinating protection of Mars, Incorporated's
brand names in Asia Pacific - including Australia - is Rhonda Steele who holds
the position of Marketing Property Manager. Rhonda is responsible for the establishment,
maintenance and enforcement of various intellectual property rights and, as
Mars regards these assets as its most valuable ones, she is kept on her toes.
'Mars is a company which invests in brands and has a policy which clearly states
that the brand names are the basis on which its consumer franchises are built
and, as such, are among its most valuable assets. Whether it's the trade mark
chosen for the product, the pack design for the product or the advertising which
communicates the product's benefits to the consumer-they all deserve and require
protection.
Every Mars associate has a part to play in the protection programme and all
are encouraged to keep their eyes open and monitor the marketplace for any misuse,'
said Rhonda.
'The sales force keep a keen eye out for any names or pack designs which might
look similar to ours and this happens more often than you might think. We've
had infringements reported to us by customers, people who work on our account
within our advertising agencies and even the lawyers we retain in each of the
countries in which we act to protect our rights.'
Rhonda manages Mars' marketing properties - its trade marks, copyrights and
designs - in more than 40 countries around the Asia Pacific region. Her advice
to newcomers in the branding business is to get in early and to be pre-emptive
rather than reactive.
'Before we launch a new product we talk to our consumers first and find out
what they think about both the product itself and the name we are proposing
to give it. Once we have that feedback we proceed with trade mark searches through
our professional advisers as we need to be sure that we're not going to be launching
something with a name which is the same as, or similar to one already in the
market. This is a vital step and can avoid problems down the track.
To adequately protect your intellectual property rights it's very important
to do your thinking early and to conduct thorough searches - both of the trade
marks register and the market place - so that you can be confident of launching
your new product without fear of infringing someone else's rights.'
For small countries in particular these issues must be properly considered
otherwise substantial investments in product development and package design
will be wasted if a new product is found to infringe prior rights and has to
be withdrawn from the market.
Sharon Ch'ang, Principal Consultant on Intellectual Property and Technology
Management with the Sydney law firm Gilbert & Tobin, says that carrying
out a search of the Trade Mark Register is sound risk management for any one
releasing a new product for sale.
'Failure to do your basic homework can jeopardise your entire marketing campaign
and, if timing is important, even the success of your product in the market
place. For example, if you neglect the simple trade mark clearance procedures
before you enter a market and someone else is already using an identical or
substantially similar trade mark, you can easily end up having to withdraw your
press and advertising and re-do product labels, packaging and brochures to ensure
you do not infringe the other trade mark.
Practically speaking, this takes time and delays getting your product onto
the shelf. If you end up in this situation, one solution may be to purchase
or perhaps licence the use of the pre-existing trade mark rights from the owner.
This has been done many times when an eleventh-hour discovery is made that someone
else has a product of similar name. But obviously you are at the mercy of the
trade mark owner. The ransom they demand for your use may be far more than you
are willing to pay. Armed with the knowledge of the importance of intellectual
property clearances, it may be more expedient to start again,' said Ms Ch'ang.
A properly established portfolio of protection provides sound insurance against
copying. Rhonda Steele says that for companies like Mars Incorporated, registering
a brand name is extremely cost effective.
'When you commit to a brand you have to be prepared to put all your resources
behind it and when you consider the cost of product development and advertising-and
the benefits you're likely to reap from it them - the cost of trade mark registration
is really quite minimal.
For the smaller companies who might not have the resources we do, it is important
to do a sound cost/benefit analysis to make sure that the returns justify the
cost of the initial investment,' Rhonda says.
Ms Ch'ang advises brand owners to be prepared to fight for their intellectual
property rights if and whenever they are infringed.
'Unless you're prepared to put a stop to any infringement, you will quickly
lose your competitive advantage. If you suspect someone is infringing your rights,
such as copying a pack design or creating a logo similar to yours, investigate
immediately and take action if necessary.'
For Mars Incorporated this means maintaining a close watch on its markets all
over the world.
One of the most challenging markets Rhonda manages is China. In the late 1980s
Mars China launched a block chocolate product under the trade mark DOVE. Its
label design consisted of the word DOVE in white letters with a gold keyline
in the centre of the pack, two distinctive wavy lines above and below the word
DOVE, a Dove Device above the 'o' and a small lozenge at the right side of the
wavy line below the DOVE brand in which the variant descriptive was located.
Since the product was launched onto the market - and became the market leader
- Mars has had to cope with numerous and varied infringements of the DOVE trade
mark and pack design.
'In the early days there was very little sophistication when it came to trade
mark infringement and infringers used the identical mark. Subsequently, infringers
have started to use different words but in the same type style and colour scheme.
The two wavy lines and the lozenge device are inevitably always copied as is
the placement of the Chinese character brand name for DOVE. More recently, we've
had a horse device and a rabbit in place of our Dove Device but the overall
similarity of the labels is still designed to cause deception and confusion.
We have persisted in enforcing our rights and I'm pleased to say that the Chinese
authorities have been very receptive to our submissions with the result that
we win many more cases than we lose,' said Rhonda.
'Mars understands and appreciates that there are usually local considerations
to be borne in mind when naming and presenting products. However, in the main,
Mars' aim is to build global brands by acting locally and thinking globally
and certainly inasmuch as its protection programs are concerned. We act early
to clear names that are of interest to our sister businesses elsewhere around
the world because the speed at which products move around the world these days
makes it inevitable that they will end up Down Under eventually.'
Additional information
The following are some of the trade marks registered on behalf of Mars Incorporated:
Mars
240224 (Class 30)
260188 (Class 30)
262657 (Class 5)
262658 (Class 29)
262663 (Class 30)
You can conduct an online search for
these or other trademarks.
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