Co-founder of a successful textile technology business, Murray Height, shares some insights from his collaboration with researchers to bring his idea to market. According to Murray, the relationship is even more important than an agreement around the intellectual property (IP) – although this is still fundamental.
Since founding Win Win Parenting in 2013, Dr Rosina McAlpine’s education programs have been helping working parents across Australia balance work-life priorities.
For this industry moving and globally expanding business, MOVUS sees its brand as its most valuable asset. CEO and Founder, Brad Parsons, knows it’s the brand that is what will live on and so he invested in trade mark protection early.
For a brand that is literally stitched into its products, protecting the name InStitchu was an early consideration for Founders, Robin McGowan and James Wakefield. They knew they’d come up with a unique name and business strategy, so they wanted to invest in it and gain ownership quickly.
SEO Shark is a digital marketing agency specialising in search engine optimisation (SEO). As the world moves towards a more digital way of life the demand for digital services has increased. Therefore so has the number of businesses operating in the industry.
Malcolm Mabo wanted to use his surname for a new clothing business. However, Mabo is no ordinary name. His father, Eddie 'Koiki' Mabo, led the landmark High Court case for native title in Australia.
The Mabo brand is made from Malcolm's surname and symbols from his traditional community. He applied for a trade mark to protect his brand.
‘Make sure your IP is the first thing you look at protecting,’ suggests Jessica May, founder of Enabled Employment.
‘This includes understanding every person who has the rights to it and ensuring it is transferred or an agreement on IP sharing is struck. It will become your most valuable asset.’
In China, the Chinese language version of your brand can be just as important as the English language version, as wine maker Penfolds discovered.
Penfolds was, until recently, locked in a protracted legal dispute with a businessman who registered the company’s Chinese name before it did.
Failing to properly secure your brand in China can be a very expensive mistake, as the experience of computer giant Apple shows.
The California-based technology company was forced to buy the iPad trade mark from another company for US$60 million after a court ruled it did not have the rights to use it in China.
When Tori Best tried to register the name and logo of her Melbourne-based dairy company in China, she found that someone else had got there first.
Someone else had already registered the name Farmer Brown’s Dairy Company as well as the company’s flying cow logo with the China Trade Mark Office, or CTMO.
