{"id":1507,"date":"2018-07-31T10:46:09","date_gmt":"2018-07-30T22:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/?p=1507"},"modified":"2022-02-03T10:48:24","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T21:48:24","slug":"ip-should-be-the-aperitif-the-main-course-and-dessert-not-just-the-after-dinner-mint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/ip-should-be-the-aperitif-the-main-course-and-dessert-not-just-the-after-dinner-mint\/","title":{"rendered":"IP should be the aperitif, the main course and dessert; not just the after-dinner mint"},"content":{"rendered":"<h6>Is a commonly used greeting something you can trade mark?<\/h6>\n<p>The recent spat between My Food Bag and giant German food company HelloFresh over the sentence \u201cHello, fresh start the programme\u201d posed just that question, and more.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-18427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/myfoodbag-hellofresh.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/myfoodbag-hellofresh.jpg 610w, https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/myfoodbag-hellofresh-300x169.jpg 300w\" alt=\"\" width=\"610\" height=\"343\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Stop using the words \u201chello\u201d and \u201cfresh\u201d next to each other said the German company. Why should we? Said the kiwi company.<\/p>\n<p>The squabble is a salutary reminder that even in the commodity world of food marketing, intellectual property (IP) issues can still bring you grief. IP is a complex area of law which is perilous to navigate on your own.<\/p>\n<h6>Think forward<\/h6>\n<p>The New Zealand food and beverage (F&amp;B) industry is a creative and energetic sector but with one weak spot \u2013 the number eight wire mentality. We are too \u201ckiwi\u201d for our own good. We think we can \u201cdo it all\u201d and \u201cshe\u2019ll be right\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Too often we see exciting new F&amp;B businesses who have developed great concepts and successfully wowed the market, jeopardising their fortune by failing to protect the intangible part of their brain-child. It is often an afterthought. \\Not enough time and resources are spent on protecting core assets of the business such as its brand, its reputation, and the look of its products. This can have disastrous results; making it too easy and tempting for competitors with deeper pockets to take advantage.<\/p>\n<p>There is a popular conception that it is too expensive to obtain IP protection or to enforce IP when it is infringed. However, plenty within an F&amp;B business has potential to be protected without incurring significant costs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Registering designs and trade marks with the Intellectual Property Office;<\/li>\n<li>Obtaining advice on how copyright (which cannot be registered in New Zealand) can be leveraged to protect certain aspects of your business;<\/li>\n<li>Using a well-drafted simple confidentiality agreement to significantly minimise the risk of your recipes, preparation methods or processing of ingredients become public knowledge<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These are all steps, to name but a few, which are relatively inexpensive to take and may prove invaluable in future.<\/p>\n<h6>Think early<\/h6>\n<p>Problems often arise when a start-up takes too long to get its IP sorted.<\/p>\n<p>You spend a long time and a lot of money perfecting a concept and realise it has huge potential \u2013 it may be too late to patent it or to protect the look of the resulting product with a registered design if it\u2019s already been made public.<\/p>\n<p>You put in solid hours with a great ad agency at significant cost to develop nifty packaging and branding, name and logo and the public like it \u2013 but you haven\u2019t done your homework and your mark is too similar to someone else\u2019s registered trade mark. You are back to square one and potentially liable for trade mark infringement.<\/p>\n<p>The F&amp;B market is intensely competitive in New Zealand, there is a lot on offer (everyone likes to eat). But you have to protect what you create, not just the tangible output of that creation. Long gone are the days of a company\u2019s main assets being its premises or its machinery. What entrepreneurs often fail to realise is that most of the value of their business \u2013 what attracts investors in particular \u2013 is its IP, and that\u2019s especially true of F&amp;B.<\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t protect your IP, others will copy to free-ride and compete; if not from the start, once they\u2019ve noticed you because you are threatening their market share. That may leave you stranded despite having a high-quality product.<\/p>\n<h6>Think further<\/h6>\n<p>Another common failing is to do a reasonable job shoring up the IP in New Zealand but not look offshore to do the same. Again, delay this and the risk is high that someone visiting New Zealand will see your product, be highly impressed and quickly replicate it in their home country, locking up the IP there as they do so.<\/p>\n<p>IP rights are territorial. New Zealand may be your starter market and it may be a good one, where you have success. If the objective is business growth however, the bigger (much bigger) markets of Australia, the United States and Asia should be on the radar \u2013 and work should be done very early on to get IP protection in those markets too. You may have a patent or a trade mark registered in New Zealand but it may be too late to get the equivalent in the US.<\/p>\n<p>Getting IP protection has a cost, of course, but start-up businesses may be able to source grant assistance from the likes of Callaghan Innovation. The payback is undoubtable: market security and investor interest both require strong IP.<\/p>\n<h6>A shield and a weapon<\/h6>\n<p>Here\u2019s another kiwi take on the German company trying to stop My Food Bag using \u201cHelloFresh\u201d. They see it as bullying. In fact, companies trying to enforce their IP rights are often seen as bullies. Whilst this specific fight does seem a bit petty let\u2019s be real here. IP is both a shield and a weapon. There is nothing wrong with defending your IP rights \u2013 though kiwis seem a bit squeamish about it at times. Many (bigger) companies see IP litigation as a way to weaken or eliminate their competitors. You\u2019ve built your business with inspiration, devotion and sacrifice, and ploughed a lot of time and money into it. Why should you let someone else steal your idea and profit from it?<\/p>\n<p>Getting IP protection and making it known that you have IP protection will deter most. Enforcing your IP on the rare occasions it proves necessary may save your business.<\/p>\n<p>Early work to cement your IP makes absolute sense and should be central to your overall business strategy. Make it part of the aperitif, the main course and dessert \u2013 don\u2019t leave it till you bring out the after-dinner mints.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is a commonly used greeting something you can trade mark? The recent spat between My Food Bag and giant German food company HelloFresh over the sentence \u201cHello, fresh start the programme\u201d posed just that question, and more. Stop using the words \u201chello\u201d and \u201cfresh\u201d next to each other said the German company. Why should we?&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[80,78],"class_list":["post-1507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-innovation","category-trade-marks","insight-resource-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>IP should be the aperitif, the main course and dessert; not just the after-dinner mint - James &amp; Wells<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/ip-should-be-the-aperitif-the-main-course-and-dessert-not-just-the-after-dinner-mint\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IP should be the aperitif, the main course and dessert; not just the after-dinner mint - James &amp; Wells\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is a commonly used greeting something you can trade mark? 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