Stratagem is on the move !

Stratagem's positive start to 2014 continues. I am delighted to say  with more exciting news !!

We are now the proud owners of our own Offices!  There is quite a lot of building work prior to our move but we hope to be the occupants by mid September 2014.  It is a lovely barn a few miles just outside Cambridge in a village called Toft.  The property is situation on the Meridian line - hence our new address will be Meridian Court, Comberton Road, Toft, Cambridge CB23 2RY.

We are not able to trumpet our successes very often as so much of what we do is so confidential, but we are extremely proud to have played our part as IP advisors to the hugely successful Horizon Discovery AIM flotation in March of this year- the placing was the largest in terms of funds raised by any Cambridge Cluster biotech on AIM and equal fifth largest in the all-time list of placing on the main, international main and AIM markets after raising £68.6m from institutional investors against an original target of £25m.

We have also won an award! Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year!

http://www.corporatelivewire.com/GlobalAwards/flipviewerxpress.html?pn=56  

Banking on IP, the UKIPO responds

In our February newsletter, we commented on the “Banking on IP” report, which concluded that IP in the UK was effectively “unbankable”. 

The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), who commissioned the original report, are making an active response to implement some of the recommendations.  Some of the more relevant responses are discussed below. 

The UKIPO are proposing to work closely with the British Bankers’ Association to build awareness across the whole banking industry of the value of IP and the role it can play in a business.  It is proposed that a suitable “glossary” of accepted definitions to be used when IP and intangible assets are described.  Given that the language used in relation to both IP and banking can be highly technical, it will be important that both sides are speaking the same language.  Such a glossary would be a great starting foundation for further training and enable businesses to present their IP assets in a readily understood manner.

In order to implement several recommendations, the UKIPO proposes to work with other bodies, such as NESTA and the Big Innovation Centre to experiment with new models for innovation finance.  This could be an interesting opportunity for those businesses currently looking for funding. 

Further, the UKIPO have looked into the issue of reducing risk for lenders, either by risk sharing or risk insurance.  In relation to risk insurance, the original report concluded:  “The UK IP insurance market… is currently immature with a comparatively small number of specialist underwriters and brokers  providing services at what businesses have historically regarded as a relatively high cost”.  We will be watching whether the UKIPO can influence a change in the IP insurance market with interest. 

The UKIPO has again highlighted the importance of an IP management and commercialisation strategy, and notes that businesses will need to have the same in place in order to attract funding.  All of the recommended activities, including due diligence, are services that Stratagem already offers. 

In summary, the UKIPO are making a positive and active response to a report which highlighted the inadequacies in the way IP-rich businesses are financed by UK banks.  Watch out for further reports as these proposals reach fruition, and if any of the proposals are relevant for your business, please do not hesitate to contact Stratagem to discuss in more detail.

Trade Marks and Branding Your Business

The below is an article to be launched in the July Berkshire 'Girls on the Go' magazine.

'We are all in business of one form or another. For some, they are employed to work for established brands where there are Guidelines on how the company name and other brands should be used. Corporate colours will have been defined, logos will have been created in different formats for use in presentations, articles, stationery etc, and company names, trade marks registrations and domain names will have been secured. All this is done to protect the corporate identity, maintain standards and build reputation.

For those running their own business, especially at the start, this kind of formality seems a distant prospect - something to be done at some point when the company is big enough. My challenge to this, however, is that a company's identity and reputation starts from the first sale of any product or service - the core aim is to bring customers back for repeat purchases and to gain recommendations. The only way to identify your business from others in the same field is by use of a brand name. It is therefore incredibly important to ensure that you select the right name from the start.

The best brand names are often invented words which cleverly allude to something that encapsulates a quality or emotion relevant to the product. An example of this would be the mark KINDLE. The word itself is not descriptive of books or anything IT related, but (to me at least) alludes to warmth, curling up with a book, nurturing an idea, etc, which are all good concepts for electronic books. Another source of good brand names are everyday words used in unusual ways. A great example of this is ORANGE for telecommunication services. This word gives the impression of a service which is fresh and bright.

Ideally the name you select for your business needs to be unique, distinctive and not descriptive of the product/service being sold. I often hear the comment that surely a mark that is descriptive is best as it removes the need to educate the public as to what the product is, but the down side to this is that competitors are also free to use similar descriptive words for their competing products. Why should a customer return to you if they can purchase the 'same' product elsewhere? The best strategy therefore is to use common words to describe the generic product but create a distinctive brand name for your variety thereby leading to customers wanting your branded product.

Another common source of brands is to use your own name. This is useful when you start up a service business in particular as it is likely to be your reputation that draws customers in. But what happens if you wish to sell the business on, or you take on partners, or retire? Will you want your name connected to a company you no longer have control over? If you attempt to sell the business without the company name, the value will be substantially reduced. An example of this problem is David Emmanuel who designed Princess Diana's wedding dress. He sold his company together with the trade mark Emmanuel, but was then prevented from using his own name for competing products.

A further important consideration is whether your intended name is already used by someone else. It is possible for the same mark to be used by several companies who operate in different fields, eg, Polo mints, Polo cars and Polo clothing brand, but it is hard to predict future diversification. Apple Computers and Apple Records had a long standing agreement separating the music business from computers, but the development of Apple's online music store led to both companies providing music. The best way to check your field is to do an internet search for you desired name and see what results are returned. This will also help you to establish whether there are any undesired associations with the name. Only look at the first two pages of results returned - if anything is hidden further back, it cannot be of that much relevance. Try not to bond with just one name before you have done this exercise as you may use rose tinted glasses to review the results. It is also recommended that you search the Trade Marks Register (which may be done at the Intellectual Property Office website www.ipo.gov.uk or by contacting a Trade Mark Attorney via the Institute website www.itma.org).

In summary, think of your company's ethos, goals and aims, think colours, emotions, slogans, think of your ideal customer, and sit down with a large piece of paper and a good bottle of wine (purely to assist the creative process of course!) and brainstorm your way to a brand as unique as you are.

I would be very happy to provide advice in relation to trade marks, branding, copyright or any other intellectual property rights. Feel free to email me on abigail.woolhouse@stratagemipm.co.uk.'