When discussing this weeks topic of intellectual property, the company Nike comes to the
top of my mind. The company has been around since 1964. Their home office is in Orgeon
and is also why the Oregon football team is highly decorated and dressed in fresh new
uniforms before each game. Since their founding the logo has changed four times. Their
signature logo of the "Swoosh" sign was patented in 1974. They have also used their
trademark slogan of "Just Do It". They use celebrity athletes, college and professional
sports teams with sponsorship agreements for heavy advertisement campaigns. The reason
they had their logo patented was to keep other companies from copying their idea and or
replicating their shoe. They today are the largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel as
well as a major manufacturer of sporting equipment. Nike is the most valuable brand in the
sports business with their brand sitting at an excess of $32 billion dollars. Like any other
company of their size they have had their share of controversy but are usually able to
resolve the issues with their legal team. One of the biggest intellectual properties of a
company that I can think of is Walt Disney. Disney is one t=of the biggest names known
today. The company as a whole has so many productions of movies and television shows.
Disney also owns one of the biggest and most popular amusement parks in the world.
People come from all over the world to visit the Disney theme park. The Disney brand also
has clothes and other material things that can be purchased from the brand. Over the years
Disney has become one of the most popular names and brands in the world. It is hard to
watch the television, go to the store or even listen to the radio without hearing or seeing
something that pertains to Disney.Protecting the intellectual property is so important for
Disney. The name itself is so big. The characters in every movie or show are trademarked
or/ and copyrighted. This protects assets and credits of each creation. This also avoids other
companies from stealing a character or trying to make a replica character and earn money
from that creation. Protecting the Disney brand through copyright, patent and utility and
etc. allows Disney to keep all of its profits. This allows This allows Disney to be protected
against other companies trying to make a replica of its characters, movies, and etc. This
also allows Disney to peruse legal action against anyone that is trying to take on their work
as their own. With these protections other parties can receive financial gains without the
permission of Disney.Protecting intellectual properties are very important for anyone that
wants to own the rights to their creations. If you write a song, create a clothing brand,
design or any creation it is important to protect your brand. When thinking about this weeks
discussion question I immediately thought about McDonalds and it's trademark Golden
"M". Through the years McDonald's has acquired many copyrights for it food as well as
patents for its boxes. I am sure with all their recipes they have a few trade secrets too. It is
important for a company, such as McDonalds, to protect these intellectual properties
because it can be the bat signal for their services. Like the Golden Arches, many other fast
food logos can be seen from the high way and anyone passing by it knows exactly what it
is. Also protecting recipes from competitors is a must in the food industry so it is important
to have trade secretes put in place. All of these things are valuable assets to a company.
They can be something as simple as the slogan of the commercial that plays on the
television or radio. If these intellectual properties were not able to be protected then other
companies could just use recipes or slogans close to the other companies with out any
repercussions. Parody is considered fair use under copyright law. But sometimes it is
difficult to determine whether or not something qualifies as parody. One would have to read
a lot of case law to get a clear idea of what has and has not been considered parody by the
courts.
If somebody sues you, it can be expensive and time-consuming even if you ultimately win
the lawsuit. And so it is wise to get permission from the holder of the copyright before
publishing a parody of a work that's under copyright.. I've read that that's what Weird Al
does, because he doesn't want any legal problems. If he can't get permission, he doesn't do
the parody. Intellectual properties can be a variety of things, many of these are private or
patented technology. Food recipes, cooking techniques, trademarks, brand names, images,
and slogans are considered to be of many prime examples of intellectual properties that
companies hold dear. An example of this is a renowned company like Chick-Fil-A and their
trademark logo of a chicken and their slogan of “Eat Mor Chikin”. According to Gerben
Law Firm (2022), businesses of all types have tried to market their brands and products by
using a part of Chick-Fil-A’s slogan but because of intellectual property protection and
laws, they needed approval from the company first before finalizing and sending out their
products. Protecting intellectual property is extremely important to businesses because it
provides protection to those with the original ideas and encourages innovation and
competition within the industry (Lee, n.d., p. 167). For example, if Chick-Fil-A did not
have their intellectual property protected, then other fast food companies who sell fried
chicken sandwiches can steal and claim that their products are the same, similar, or even
better. Not only does this steal the credit from the original ideas that founded the company,
but it also discredits the hard work that was put into it and thus makes it easier for anyone
do the same. Protecting intellectual property also encourages these other businesses to come
up with different and new ideas which stimulates competition and new inventions (Lee,
n.d., p. 167). The intellectual property of a company I chose was IBM Intellectual Property
Licensing. Rather than just the intellectual property IBM also offers licensing to companies
who need to register and license their intellectual property. IBM has one of the world's
largest intellectual Property portfolios. It consists of diverse collections of research and is
collaborative among many experts contributions. The combined information is what makes
it intellectual property and when utilized can simplify what was large and complex. If you
are a client you are able to work with other members who are also contributing
information.Protecting the intellectual information and offering licensing is important
because a lot of companies use proprietary information in engineering and innovation to be
different from the competition. Companies strive to become leaders in their field and have
experts that are researching and discovering new techniques, developing technologies, and
creating more efficient procedures. If the information was all public they would not be able
to take credit for their work and would be at risk for becoming victims of infringement. By
having a patent or a license you are able to associate the intellectual information with a
product, service or as property.In this example IBM is offering the technology which is
another piece of intellectual property that is specific to licensing intellectual property to be
used and verified as property. I have been a fan of IBM since I learned about it as a kid. I
was able to tour a facility where a relative worked at IBM who explained some of the
science to me. Very fascinating to experience the places and process that creates some of
these invisible connections. I would like to talk about music, a band by the name Metallica.
This band and many other bands are involved with a company known as (The World Wired
IP Fund) from my understand from my research its owned by (ex- Morgan Stanley
investment banker Paul Donahue). Metallica is an old school band who worked their butts
off to get where they are today. Yes, I’m sure you have heard of some of their songs at
Baseball games, foot ball games, even basketball games. You don’t hear the words but you
hear the notes of the song which “they created” which gives them rights to what belongs to
them. The world wired IP fund is a catalog that partners with other musicians and give the
company right to us their song and Metallica does get paid because they are with this
company and they get paid to play their songs. For example, if we were to play their song
at a high school football game, and someone posted on line “social media” and they see
this, the person who recorded and posted this song can be held reliable, maybe not so much
the person who recorded and posted but the school for using without permission or
purchasing the right to play song at the school. Another band who had intellectual property
were The Doors, their tones and songs had a catchy sound to their band which made them
famous just like Metallica.
In my words intellectual property is work created and designed by someone and that person
or company has rights if they were to patent, or trademark it. So, with that being said
Metallica had done their homework and patent their music and got involved with (The
World Wired IP Fund) which in return identified their music intellectual property, along
with other major bands. I’m sure you have seen a commercial with a band, or heard a songs
you like right? Those bands have patented them self, and fall under intellectual property. I
would like to focus on the intellectual property giant that is Apple. It was founded in 1976
by Steve Jobs and two other developers. Since then, it has made a name for itself by being
the world's largest technology company. Producing innovative creations like the iMac, iPod,
iPhone, iPad, and most recently AirPods. Intellectual property consists of patents,
trademarks and copyrights. Intellectual property is not physical property, but rather property
of the mind. It claims ownership and rights to creations, inventions and designs. To date,
Apple owns over 1000 trademarks and a few hundred more that are not yet registered. From
logos to the Apple store design and layout, even the sounds and scents associated with
Apple are protected intellectual property of Apple Inc. It is what makes the company stand
out, it is what makes the Apple brand, products and services so recognizable to all. When
you go out and see a store made of glass walls and also has a glass staircase, you know
what store that is, without having to look at the famous logo at the storefront. Intellectual
property is very important, not just to Apple, but to all company and businesses because it
gives them their identity and protects the innovative rights of their original creations, a very
vital part for success in any business, and to be able to stay relevant in the world market.
Since it’s inception, Kentucky Fried Chicken, or “KFC”, has exploited and benefited from
its secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices. In 1939, “the Colonel perfect[ed] his unique blend
[of] 11 herbs and spices that are still used today... and still top secret” (global.kfc). These
bragging rights have been at the center of their marketing campaigns from the start, and
many consider the ingredients to be one of the biggest trade secrets in business. KFC’s
founder, the famous, Colonel Sanders, began the business with his recipe being created only
by memory, but he eventually made a hand-written copy. It’s believed that that very hand-
written copy is kept in a safe, and is shared with very few employees, who are “bound to
secrecy by a strict confidentiality agreement” (mashed). KFC goes to great lengths to
protect their trade secret from being discovered, including utilizing two separate
manufacturing entities to each mix a portion of the spice blend. “[…] half of the ingredients
are blended by Griffith Laboratories and then the mixture is sent to McCormick, where the
other half is added (latimes)”. Additionally, “there is a rumor that employees let in on the
trade secret are not allowed to travel together by car or plane, on the off chance there is an
accident. The original handwritten recipe has only moved locations once, and was driven in
an armored car and guarded by a high-security motorcade” (mashed). KFC has been very
successful. Today, there are over 25,000 KFC locations in 145 countries (global.kfc). The
reason protecting their secret recipe so important is to protect their success, when put in the
simplest terms. This trade secret is valuable, first and foremost, because of its unique
qualities, and the limited number of people who have knowledge of, or access to the recipe.
If a competitor were to obtain the mixture of herbs and spices, and sell the same chicken
recipe, KFC’s profits may suffer as a result of the product duplication, and KFC would
have to come up with new core marketing strategies for the first time since it’s creation. If
the public were to receive the recipe, families could make the chicken at home instead of
purchasing it from KFC. Having a secret, or product that is one-of-a-kind also creates an
attraction toward a business. If the secret is revealed, the allure may fizzle. These are both
examples that could potentially lead to sales losses.
References
Metallica Join New Investment Fund Focused on Acquiring Song Catalogs - Rolling Stone
Chick-fil-A trademarks - gerben law firm. Gerben Law Firm -. (2022, April 18). Retrieved
June 23, 2022, from https://www.gerbenlaw.com/trademarks/food-companies/chick-fil-a/
Lee, K. (n.d.) Business law (2nd ed.). MyEducator.
