This transcript is for the video Dream Shield - Trade Marks.
[Image appears of Paul Newman walking across a road]
[Text appears: Trade Marks, Protects brands, logos and name, Case Study: Paul Newman, Black Pages]
Paul Newman: By far the biggest challenge for me as an indigenous business person is being seen seriously as a black business man.
[Image changes to show Alison Page, IP Spokesperson]
Alison Page: One of the challenges running your business is knowing how to stand out from the competition. Now you can build your corporate identity through advertising a brochure and a website but what's stopping someone from stealing your brand? Registering your Trade Mark is a sensible way to protect your IP.
[Image changes to show Paul Newman talking to Alex Noble]
Paul Newman is a business owner who's done just that. His aboriginal enterprise "Black Pages" provides access to over 3000 businesses and community organisations in Australia.
[Image changes to show Paul Newman, Managing Director of Black Pages]
Paul Newman: Black Pages provides a culture appropriate business model where indigenous businesses and community enterprises feel comfortable with doing business, often in a culturally appropriate way.
[Image changes to show Paul Newman talking to a woman while writing on a whiteboard]
The role that the Black Pages brand plays is that it is recognised as an indigenous business.
[Image changes back to Paul Newman]
We decided to register the Black Pages Trade Mark after following a lot of good business practices and principles.
[Image changes to show Paul Newman showing the Black Pages to a woman]
It made good business to be able to protect our brand.
[Image changes to show Paul Newman crossing a busy road]
The Trade Mark also gives us visibility within the mainstream business sector.
[Image changes to show Paul Newman in an office]
It wasn't too much of a task getting the Trade Mark registered.
[Image changes to show Trade Mark webpage]
We were very fortunate that professional trade mark legal people who we engaged to help us with that process knew what they were doing.
[Image changes to show trade mark application on Trade Mark webpage]
[Image changes to show Paul Newman]
[Image changes to show Alex Noble working at a computer]
[Image changes to show the Black Pages website home page]
What I would recommend to other indigenous businesses is that they, if they have a business product, a business model, it would be very worthwhile spending some time to talk to professionals around the issue of intellectual property.
[Image changes to show Paul Newman]
[Image changes to show high rise building and camera zooms down to the ground level of the building to show Paul Newman entering the office]
Registering the Black Pages Trade Mark does a lot for the Black Pages business. It gives us some pride, it tells a story to have some protection around our brand. It makes us look like a very professional business.
[Image changes to show Alison Page walking outside a building]
Alison Page: More success for your business, more valuable your brand can become, so don't risk it, protect your hard work by registering your Trade Mark.
[Coat of Arms and text appears: Australian Government, IP Australia, www.ipaustralia.gov.au 1300 65 10 10]
For more information on trade marks contact IP Australia, your business advisor or a Trade Mark attorney.