'Intellectual Property' refers to all those intangible things which are created as a result of human intellect and creativity. Books, novels, song lyrics, music etc. are all examples of Copyrightable ‘works’. Trademarks and trade secrets are some other forms of intellectual property that are popular today. 'IP Rights' refer to a set of rights which give creators the ability to legally protect their works, control their distribution, and remedy in case their works become the subject of imitation or piracy.
"In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is a failure. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible" ~ Seth Godin
Intellectual property helps businesses:
● Make a strong brand identity:
By virtue of protecting creative works from imitation, IPRs help to develop unique brand identities and unimitatable value propositions. IPR provides incentive to brands to make innovative products, and be the exclusive producer of the same.
● Restrict entry to an industry or market:
By patenting or trademarking the key aspects of a product, a business can prevent the entry of other businesses into the same space. This is most highly visible in the pharmaceutical industry. By patenting a particular drug for a specific illness, companies can be the sole seller until the patent expires or a separate (better) formula is created. Intellectual Property can thus help maintain, expand and hold market share.
● Protect unique innovations and creations:
Companies spend a lot of money in creating innovative products, be it a movie script or a genetic code, it would not be fair to those that invest in such creations to have their works copied. It also makes sure that copy-cats and imitations can be dealt with effectively.
● Create licenseable assets, franchising and merchandising opportunities:
Being the sole producer or owner of a product or technology gives the company an asset that it can license out to other competitors.
There is perhaps no better company which displays this strategy than Dolby. Dolby is a company well known for it's innovative and revolutionary work in the media technology field. The founder, Ray Dolby, was well-versed. The founder, Ray Dolby, was well-versed with patent law and this was the variable which propelled Dolby from a start-up to a globally recognizable brand
today. Dolby's marketing revolved around it's patents and trademarks. The company focused on industries where innovation was not only possible, but also patentable. Ray Dolby has said many times: " I don't go into a field I cant get a patent on". Dolby, unlike other technology companies at the time took the bold decision to not produce consumer products. When the existing cassettes were plagued with white and static noise, instead of making their own
noiseless cassettes, Dolby developed this technology obtained a patent and subsequently licensed these patented technologies to companies that already had plans and resources to produce products. By doing this, Dolby was able to focus on making innovative technologies Dolby would help producers design the products as well, to ensure that their technology was
utilized well. Perhaps the most ingenious move was to make their technology button-operated, i.e. consumers would have to press a button to activate the Dolby technology within the device. This button bore the Dolby logo, and pressing it would improve sound quality. This led to consumers unconsciously associating the Dolby logo with good sound quality, an extremely
simple yet effective strategy of positioning a brand in the minds of consumers.
McDonalds is the largest food chain in the world, and the most interesting fact is that the majority of their outlets are franchises. Franchising depends on brand identity and the uniqueness of everything under the umbrella of that brand. Without the protection of trademarks, copyrights, and patents, franchising would not be possible.
Merchandising is growing in popularity due to the increase in independent content creators like YouTubers, blog writers etc. Merchandise here refers to products that bear a specific symbol, even if it is not created by the specific entity. Merchandising helps consumers directly support their brands and creators of choice, as well as identify with a particular community.
Intellectual property can help in marketing and gives sufficient grounds for protecting brands and their products from being imitated and copied. Investments will only give good returns if the returns are protected. Businesses and SMEs should thus be encouraged to invest in this legal right and use it as an asset.
Ishan Puranik is a Business administration and law student based in Mumbai. His hobbies include researching about random facts and incorporating them into daily work and conversation and public speaking. He is deeply interested in Intellectual property law and has conducted several studies on the same, you can follow Ishan and his work on his LinkedIn profile. He also has his own blog on which he writes about non-academic things such as Minimalism, journaling and more.
Ishan's favorite book is Percy Jackson and Olympians, and he'd love to fangirl about the upcoming Disney+ series with you over on Instagram @thepuranik.blog
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