Member Blog

Lauren O’Leary, Head of Employee Volunteering and Employability, reflects on the current state of the jobs market and what responsible businesses can do to support people into sustainable employment.

September was a big month for employment news in the UK.

In the summer, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced the creation of a ‘National Living Wage’ (NLW) which will be set at £7.20 per hour for workers aged over 25 from April next year, with it rising to over £9 per hour in 2020.

In addition, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports that average pay rose by 2.9% in the three months to July, compared to a year ago. That’s the strongest growth rate for regular pay (excluding bonuses) since 2009.

Last week, the UK’s employment rate was released to much fanfare. Leading economistscalculated that the number of people in work across Britain rose by 42,000 quarter-on-quarter to 31.09 million, which leaves the employment rate little changed at 73.5% – a record high.

The complete picture on UK employment

This is all welcome news as we inch closer to the holiday season, but we cannot be complacent. Rising employment figures, whilst a positive sign, do not present the complete picture.

Youth unemployment has only fallen byone per cent, barely shifting for a year; we are in the midst of a housing crisis across the UK; changes to the benefits system are adversely affecting millions; and work is no longer a guaranteed route out of poverty.

How can employers take action?

Business in the Community (BITC) has been committed to tackling unemployment and helping companies realise their power to affect change since our inception in 1982.

We want to work with businesses to bust misconceptions about unemployedworkersasscroungers and benefit cheats. Of course, there are many differentreasonswhy people recieve unemployment benefits,but the vast majority of people that I meet throughour Ready for Work programme are desperate to be in secure and sustainable employment.

We alsowant to give companies the tools they need to support their employees in career progression and to develop policies and procedures that enable individuals to access work on a level playing field. We want to educate corporates on the significant difficulties that being unemployed presents, not just for the individual but on their families, friends and wider society.

At BITC, we challenge our member companies to work collaboratively to address systemic issues surrounding employment, including zero-hours contracts and other forms of insecure labour. Corporates have the opportunity to form networks and create innovative solutions to provide for their communities.

We want businesses to engage their staff at all levels and explore the many benefits that supporting people into employment can bring to their bottom line.

So, can business really change the employment landscape? Absolutely. Business can, should and must do more to create a truly fairer society. You have a choice – we all do.

The slogan ‘Have a break, have a KitKat’ has become synonymous with Nestlé’s chocolatey treat, so it must be quite frustrating for the company that its efforts to create a distinctive chocolate bar shape has so far failed to pay off as a trademark registration. Novagraaf’s Frouke Hekker examines the thin line between success and failure for 3D shape marks.

Obtaining trademark protection of shapes is not as common or as simple as trademark protection for other types of signs, such as words, slogans or logos.

Toy manufacturer LEGO’s attempts to protect its iconic bricks as 3D trademarks is just one of the high profile examples of brands whose otherwise iconic shapes have failed to meet the criteria for shape marks set by trademark offices, and national and European courts. Why has the bar been set so high?

Limits to registration Registration limits have been imposed to prevent companies from acquiring a monopoly over technical solutions or a product’s functional characteristics. To prevent shapes from being monopolised in this way, European legislation contains three limitations. These exclude shapes from trademark protection, if:

• they consist of a shape which results from the nature of the goods themselves;
• the shape gives substantial value to the goods; or
• if the shape of goods is necessary to obtain a technical result.

Shapes that are not excluded on these grounds can obtain trademark protection, but – as with trademarks in general – only if they satisfy criteria for distinctiveness. In practice, this is quite a hurdle as it can be difficult to argue that consumers recognise a shape as a distinguishing mark of a particular undertaking. The greater the similarity of the shape to a product’s obvious shape, the less distinctive it will be deemed to be. Ideally, shapes need to depart significantly from the norm or customs of the sector in order to fulfil the essential function of a trademark of indicating a product’s origin.

Does KitKat’s four-finger shape fall short? In 2010, Nestlé filed an application to register a trademark for its four fingered KitKat bar. As the application was for a shape mark, the (word) mark KitKat was not included in the image.

The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) originally accepted the application and registered the shape mark; however, competitor Cadbury’s opposed the registration. In the procedure that followed, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales referred the following questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for a preliminary ruling.

In essence, the procedure concerned the following questions:

• Is the shape of the KitKat bar excluded from trademark protection because one of the grounds for refusal is applicable? And, if the answer to that question is negative;
• Has the shape acquired a distinctive character through use?

Applying the grounds for refusal With respect to the first question, the CJEU heard arguments that the chocolate bar’s shape contained three essential features: one of which results from the nature of the goods themselves and two of which are necessary to obtain a technical result.

The court discussed that it is possible for the essential features of a sign to be covered by one or more grounds of refusal. It then went on to clarify that the grounds of refusal regarding the technical result must be interpreted as referring only to the manner in which the goods at issue function and not the manner in which they are manufactured. The court also clarified that registration may be refused only where at least one of those grounds is fully applicable to the sign at issue.

The case has now been returned to the UK courts for review. It is important to point out that, contrary to suggestions in the world’s media, the CJEU’s ruling has not led to the final refusal of KitKat’s shape. The CJEU gives its interpretations of EU law in preliminary rulings, not the ruling itself.

The final decision belongs to the court that referred the question, the UK’s High Court, and is yet to be made.

The question of distinctiveness The second question of distinctiveness will only need answering if the UK High Court finds that none of the grounds of refusal is fully applicable. If it does not, the question of distinctive character will not be relevant as the sign at issue will be forever excluded from trademark protection.

If, however, the High Court decides that KitKat’s shape is not excluded from trademark protection, than it will next need to consider whether it has acquired a distinctive character through use. Here, the CJEU explained that: “In order to obtain registration of a trademark which has acquired a distinctive character following the use which has been made of it within the meaning of Article3(3) of Directive 2008/95, regardless of whether that use is as part of another registered trademark or in conjunction with such a mark, the trademark applicant must prove that the relevant class of persons perceive the goods or services designated exclusively by the mark applied for, as opposed to any other mark which might also be present, as originating from a particular company.”

In other words, for a successful appeal to acquired distinctiveness, Nestlé must show that the relevant public recognises the shape in itself as originating from Nestlé. Reportedly, Nestlé has commissioned a survey that shows that 90% of respondents recognise the shape as belonging to the KitKat. Therefore, if the High Court does go on to assess acquired distinctiveness and Nestlé can actually prove these impressive numbers, trademark registration for the KitKat shape could be a possibility after all.

Further confusion to come? As a final thought, it’s also worth noting that upcoming reforms to European trademark law intend to extend the provision that excludes certain shape marks to also apply to signs with ‘other characteristics’. That is to say, all signs which consist exclusively of a shape or any other characteristic which results by the nature of the goods, which gives substantial value to the goods or which is necessary to obtain a technical result will be excluded from trademark protection.

Frouke Hekker works at Novagraaf’s Competence Centre

Believe in Why

“A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

Everything starts with a question. Being naturally inquisitive is a trait that the truest innovators, leading entrepreneurs and thought leaders all have in common. At some point they all asked the question why? Why they do what they do and why others should believe in it too? In simple terms they set their vision on their unmovable purpose and the reason why they get up in the morning.

In today’s world we see so many people set up and want to grow their business idea because of a pursuit of money. Their purpose is to make money and that is success.

To me, money is not a purpose, it’s a by-product or result of perusing a vision that you can clearly communicate, create a following and bring others along on the journey with you on.

You see to me, money in business is like putting fuel in a car. You need it to get to a destination but it is not the destination itself. If it was all you would do is drive from the petrol station home again and then back to the petrol station as you have used fuel to get home… and so on and so on.

When I say you need purpose, you need to know why you do what you do and not what you do. You need to define what you are trying to achieve with your service or new product and It has to be more than just offering a better quality, cheaper version of something that someone else does. Even if you do have a unique product that nobody else has, if you can’t bring people with you on a journey that they believe in then it won’t be a bigger success at it could be.

You have to ask yourself why we are making this, why we do what we do.

To prove a point, ask any social enterprise or Charity why they do what they do and their whole existence is based on a purpose. It is what they do without thinking about it, in fact they can only exist by bringing people along with them on a journey.

Imagine if like a social enterprise, your commercial business idea or product could have that clear and passionate purpose that you and others could really believe in. A vision that can engages the passions of early adopters and starts to challenge perceptions of your customers or target market. Apple did it, Dyson did it and so did Richard Branson with Virgin. All came from a firm vision and purpose that endured to achieve something that transcended money and inspired a new way of thinking. They made their brands count for something that had purpose.

When they started in their business, people in their organisations weren’t the best qualified at what they did or where the best equipped in the world. They didn’t necessarily have a unique product at the time that changed the world, but what they did have was a real belief in a purpose that drove them forward and they knew others would follow. They truly had a vision and a message that was more than just a mission statement but they captured people’s imagination, redefined desires and set a trend by challenging the status quo and showing people not what they want, but showing them why they should want it.

People don’t know, what they don’t know and customers are no different. They may know what they want but sometimes we have to show them what’s possible. That’s how we set a standard, define a generation and create a new market.

In my business, Swarm was born from desire develop a new generation of commercially aware apprentices. A real vision of what could be achieved if we could develop young professional minds to understand the bigger picture in their business, apply entrepreneurial skills in their roles and inspire them to deliver the greatest measurable impact and return, both commercially and indeed socially.

We don’t just want to “do” apprenticeships, we want to re define them and maybe change the world in the process.

In business the saying goes, people buy people. But they follow dreams. Find some early adopters, get them to follow your dream, and make it their reality and believe in it. And the money will come.

“It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.”-Muhammad Ali

Ends

Parts of Britain could soon become a Minority Report-style reality with Ocean Outdoor UK, one of the country’s largest digital advertising firms personalising outdoor digital billboards to those commuters passing by.

From next month, commuters at Birmingham’s largest train station, New Street, will become guinea pigs for state-of-the-art digital screens that will be shaped like eyes and beam adverts tailored specifically to those looking at them.

If New Street takes off, it could become the start of a move towards advertising seen in the blockbuster filmMinority Report, starringTom Cruise, which depicted a world in which billboards can identify people.

Such use of digital advertising has also been growing sufficiently in the far east and Germany. Earlier this year a local German brewerAstra Bierused facial recognition techniques to target female drinkers in Hamburg with video advertising.

Clear Channel UK Report Finds Out-of-Home Sector Must Do More to Educate Marketers on Emerging Technology UNITED KINGDOM – A new report from Clear Channel UK has found that less than a third of marketers are aware of digital out-of-home (DOOH) capabilities, that include technologies such as QR codes and NFC integration; sensors that detect motion and temperature changes; and facial recognition technology.

According to Clear Channel UK, the out-of-home (OOH) advertising industry must play a larger role in educating and promoting the medium’s digital capabilities. Clear Channel UK’s Look Again report surveyed more than 200 marketing professionals. The report found that innovation was cited as one of the top buying considerations among marketers who are under great pressure to find new ways to reach mass audiences driven by the ubiquity of mobile devices. In addition, mass mediums such as television are seeing declining audience figures.

Among the innovations dubbed most exciting by marketers surveyed by Clear Channel UK were environmentally friendly technologies (70%), motion detection (67%), contact-less technologies (70%), and the use of mobile technologies such as Near Field Communication (NFC) and QR codes (72%).

“We are at the point where many marketing professionals’ perceptions are at odds with the new levels of digital sophistication currently available across the out-of-home medium. In the UK, millions of pounds worth of investment has been made in digital over the last few years, creating a medium that is capable of delivering broadcast reach, measurability, and brand visibility on a national and regional level,” said Sarah Speake, CMO at Clear Channel UK. “It’s no coincidence that some of the world’s top brands are already taking advantage. It’s now paramount that we educate the masses on the new digital opportunities available as well as reiterating the strengths of our traditional formats.”

Aside from digital out-of-home advertising, the OOH advertising space has invested heavily in audience planning, intelligent content, and new data platforms. Yet Clear Channel’s research findings suggest that this news has not yet reached marketers.

NFC Enabled Smartphone”Today Clear Channel is transforming bus shelters into tweet-activated vending machines and ad-serving aeroplanes. There’s a wealth of sophistication available across the medium to tap into. It’s our job to shout louder and champion the new capabilities on offer to help our customers engage their audiences on a deeper and more meaningful level. Today marks the beginning of this journey to create the future of media, out-of-home,” added Speake.

Source: screenmediadaily

Please read this because it is important for our localeconomy(and for anyone who runs a tech or digital servicescompany).

Do you run a tech or digital company?

“A company that provides a digital technical service/product (including hardware and platforms) as its primary revenue source,

OR

A company that provides aservice/productthat is reliant on digital technology as its primary revenue source.” – Tech City UK

If you do, you really should complete the new #TechNation survey today.

Tech City UK launched the first UK #TechNation report in February 2015. This was a comprehensive, community-driven analysis of the UK’s tech clusters. Thanks to theinvolvement of local knowledge sharinggroups such as Hot Source, SyncNorwich and Norfolk Developers, Tech City UK identified Norwich as one of21 nationally important tech clusters.

Now Tech City UK and NESTA have launched a new #TechNation survey to map the UK’s tech ecosystems. They want togain a deeper insight into the current state of nation’s technology and digital sectors.In particular, they want to discover what innovative companies need to start-up and scale-up.

The government will use the TechNation 2016report to market the UK’s tech capabilities to the world.This gives us a great opportunity to showcase the diverse tech and digital talent across Norfolk and Suffolk. As well assecuring the reputation of Norwich asa#TechNation cluster, we want toensurethe whole of our regionfeatures strongly.

However, to do this we need your help.Please take the short (15 questions / 10 minutes) TechNation survey today by following this linkhttps://bit.ly/1QCyqly– and share itwith your business networks. If you do, your company mightevenfeature as a case study in the final TechNation 2016 report.

Three good reasons why you should complete this survey: 1) You will help chartthe development of the UK’s digital economy – particularly inthe East of England

2)You will give our region, and the companiespowering its growth,valuable international exposure

3)You could win tickets to this year’s Web Summitandyour company could feature in the TechNation 2016 report.

Please take the survey today by following this link:https://bit.ly/1QCyqly– the deadline is 14 October.

Also, please remember to share with your tech and digital contacts in East Anglia,because together we are stronger.

Thank you and best of luck in the prize draw.

07-09-2015

Novagraaf UK’s Tom Farrand outlines the reasons that companies are increasingly asking trademark attorneys to help assess the worth of their intangibles.

This article first appeared in the September 2015 issue of ITMA Review.

We all know brands are important and valuable to a business, but why seek to put an actual value on them? In today’s budget-focused boardrooms, trademark attorneys need to show that the legal rights that protect those brands aren’t unnecessary costs, but instead add value to the business. More than that, as your management accountant will tell you, ‘What gets measured, gets managed.’

Brands enable owners to repeatedly charge a premium for what is often the same, or a similar, base product. This applies in all sectors, from computers to coffee, and from painkillers to polo shirts. A pack of Nurofen tablets, for example, will set consumers back 12p per tablet, as opposed to 2p per tablet if they buy a supermarket own-brand ibuprofen equivalent.

It is the brand that entices a customer to pay more and come back for more. The trusted name serves as a reassurance of quality and a shortcut to reading the clinical data or comparing ingredient lists with an own-brand equivalent. This is brand equity.

In the brand valuation process, we are asking: what is that brand equity worth to the business? Or, rather: what’s its current worth and can it be further leveraged? Is there more that can be done?

Defining the what In measuring value, we first define what we are seeking to place a value on. In this context, a brand is a marketing-related asset that may include names, terms and logos intended to identify goods, and create distinctive images and associations in the minds of stakeholders, thereby creating economic benefits for the owner. Stakeholders can refer to consumers, shareholders, investors, media and so on.

How we measure that brand’s value depends on the purpose for the valuation. Purpose dictates the premise (or basis), and that, in turn, dictates the method – and different methods produce different results. For example, is the valuation driven by strategic planning, financial reporting, dispute resolution or due diligence? Each of these will result in a different valuation premise and methodology – for instance, the desire to capture market value, as opposed to investment value or liquidation value.

The ISO 10668 was developed in 2010 to set a ‘standard’ for brand valuation. It covers three categories: legal, behavioural and financial. The first requires there to be an analysis of the strength of legal protection, the second measures stakeholders’ attitudes, and the third, financial performance.

Financial performance can be calculated by taking a market-, cost- or income-based approach – such as royalty relief, which looks at how much you could ask a licensee to pay to use your brand. Each of these can result in a slightly (sometimes even wildly) different end calculation. This broadly explains the disparity in results we see in high-profile brand-value rankings, such as those produced by Interbrand or Brand Finance. Even within income-based methodology, there are various approaches, so the ‘standard’ has plenty of variety.

Legal protection through trademark (and other) registrations has touchpoints throughout valuation calculations, no matter which methodology you use; the stronger and better managed that the trademark portfolio is, the higher the value of the brand may be.

The question of why Few of us are accountants, so this is not the place for long-winded explanations of brand valuation calculations. For trademark attorneys involved in valuing brands, the ‘why’ should come before the ‘how’.

Some the most common reasons for undertaking a valuation exercise include: portfolio disposal or acquisition, preparation for an initial public offering (IPO), transfer pricing, IP licensing and IP securitisation. Each of these will require a different valuation method, or combination of methods.

But brand valuation is important at any stage of a brand’s life cycle, not just when it comes to a restructuring or sale. Any company needs to see that it is getting a return on investments made, and investment in IP protection is no different to an investment in new plant or manufacturing capabilities. Its just more difficult to articulate or quantify.

Of course, investment in protection is only one aspect of outlay in a brand, which could also include, for example, marketing and PR activities to increase awareness. Although a brand valuation will not necessarily prove that the investment in protection is the factor increasing or decreasing brand value, it will always be a factor.

There are instances where a strong brand protection policy has been undermined by bad publicity, which has a negative effect on brand value. Equally, a strong brand can be undermined by an inadequate trademark protection strategy that prevents the brand owner from, for example, expanding to new countries or new product ranges because someone else owns those rights.

There are also the cases when the value of a company acquisition rested almost entirely with the IP assets being acquired.

Trademark ratings Intangible assets account for over half of the total global enterprise value of companies as shown in a study(1) analysing the enterprise value of 56,000 companies listed on more than 100 stock exchanges around the world.

As with many industries, the functional differences between products and services have been narrowed to the point of near invisibility. It is intangible assets, such as brands, that provide the basis for establishing meaningful differences between apparently similar offers.

Of course, a brand is more than just a trademark but, without trademark protection, a brand is potentially worthless. This is why ISO 10668 requires legal analysis to rate the strength and value of the trademark portfolio that sits behind the brand being valued.

There are numerous methods of analysing the strength of a trademark portfolio. For valuation purposes, it is important that the method used can be replicated and that an awareness of competitor behaviour is incorporated into the methodology.

Novagraaf provides trademark ratings for Brand Finance, one of the well-known producers of League Tables, as well as an analysis of portfolio strength for its individual brand valuation reports. This is done through a combination of public data, trademark search tools, and a proprietary methodology and standard ‘scoring’ system that highlights strengths and weaknesses in protection – whether strategic, geographical or product wide. In addition, we make overall recommendations for improvements – generally, areas where companies can act quickly to shore up protection, as well as advice on how to ‘futureproof’ their portfolios.

Many of these ‘weaknesses’ are simply an indication that the company’s trademark portfolio has fallen out of step with the reality of its market activity – for example, areas where it has moved into new classes or countries, but overlooked the need to put registrations in place first (or indeed after). We have even seen instances when companies have changed their names after merging with another party, but failed to register trademarks to reflect that. Some require a more detailed follow-up audit to provide further gap analysis and advice on remedial actions.

Often, some simple changes to a company’s strategy can significantly improve the rating on the trademark portfolio which, in turn, will affect the overall brand value.

Trademarks – cost or investment? Trademarks and associated forms of IP are the one constant in brand creation. A product’s name, the design and colour of its packaging, and the corporate logo are not just marketing tools – they are legal rights which can bring great benefits and growth when nurtured and used properly. Yet, they can often be overlooked in the rush to market, or simply considered a drain on resources – an outgoing cost to the business that seems to bring in little return.

That’s why it’s important for us as an industry to showcase the contribution made by trademark assets to brand strength. We all know that a strong, well-managed registration portfolio has a direct influence on brand value, and therefore business value. Valuation of that asset can also unlock its true worth, and show that the right trademark registration strategy is an investment, not just a cost.

(1) Source: 2014 BrandFinance® Global Intangible Finance Tracker (GIFT™)

Brand valuation – a potted history

• 1988: First notable valuation Premier Foods, then RHM, turned to valuation as a defensive measure when subject to a hostile takeover bid. It valued Britain’s much-loved Hovis brand to show that the takeover offer undervalued the RHM business.
• 2000: $1bn securitisation RHM was, this time, the subject of the first major IP-based securitisation. The company raised more than $1bn using its brands as security, leading to the issuance of a ‘brand bond’ the following year.
• 2001: “100 Best Global Brands” First brand league table published by Business Week.
• 2004: IFRS3 Introduction of the International Financial Reporting standard.
• 2010: ISO 10668 International Standard for brand valuation introduced.
• 2014: League Tables Today, brand valuation league tables are commonplace, and brand valuation has become accepted as an important part of valuing business.

Tom Farrand is Managing Director, Trademarks, UK at Novagraaf

Over the last few years’ awareness of some of the social economic challenges facing coastal communities across the UK have been significantly highlighted. Each week it seems one or more of our seaside towns are identified as having the highest levels of youth unemployment, poverty or vacant retail outlets. The list is extensive and whilst it is important to remember these issues are prevalent equal discussion needs to take place around the new jobs, industries and work based learning opportunities that are being offered.

As a Project Manager at Business in the Community operating in Great Yarmouth I have witnessed first-hand how the town has adapted to change and is working with partners across the public, private and voluntary sectors to tackle some of the core social and economic issues. 34% of working age residents in one Great Yarmouth neighbourhood have no recognised qualifications, with only 9% of residents qualified to higher levels. These skills deficits are reflected in lower than average earnings, which are £43 per week lower for working residents compared to people who commute into the town.

Against this backdrop we’ve been working with a coalition of partners to help revive the towns’ fortunes. One of the key growth sectors of the UK economy over the last few years has been social enterprises. There are 280,000 social enterprises in the UK, contributing £55 billion to the UK economy and employing approximately 975,000 people. Well established social enterprises like the Big Issue and Jamie Olivers Fifteen restaurant are established in towns and cities across the UK. The establishment of these enterprises and people’s desire to make a positive difference, create employment and up-skill local residents has resulted in this growth.

Since the launch of the Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s Skills, Enterprise and Assets (SEA) project 12 social enterprises have been supported in Great Yarmouth. These have been established by residents who not only have the passion to establish their own business but also to see the local economy thrive. One such example is The Wind Energy Museum. It is the only one of its kind in the UK and the vision was to turn the site in to a delivery centre to benefit vulnerable groups and increase recognition of local heritage. Debra has secured a place on this year’s Lloyds Social Entrepreneur Programme to help her develop a residential training venue, full heritage wind energy museum facilities and vocational outreach for schools.

Debra Nicholson, the founder of the organisation, has not only grown and developed the enterprise but also grown their confidence and skills. The knock on effect of this can be huge with learnings shared and local residents inspiring one another to think creatively about how they can tackle some of the issues facing their local community.

One thing to remember, which has massively impacted on this projects success, has been the involvement of local employers in helping to grow and develop the social entrepreneurs. Employers already established in Great Yarmouth saw from an early stage the benefits of working with local residents and partners to get involved in the project. One of the most popular forms of support has been through the provision of mentoring to the social entrepreneurs. Not only has this helped up skill the individuals involved it’s also broadened the employers understanding of the local community and issues that the social entrepreneur are working to address.

Simon Gray (Credo Asset Finance) was one such mentor who took part in the programme and, as a successful entrepreneur himself, was able to understand the challenges of running a business. His organisation also provides start up loans and he is now working in partnership with two social enterprises to develop a start-up school for young entrepreneurs – particularly those from disadvantaged groups who are passionate about overcoming barriers to employment.

Examples like those raised above where showcased at our Future of Responsible Business event on the 17th September at Great Yarmouth Town Hall. The event not only celebrated the impacts achieved through collaborative working but also looked to the future as to how organisations can benefit from this diverse group of social enterprises in the town.

If you’re not already working with a social enterprise I would encourage you to take some time to think about the various options available. Our event report provides an overview of the opportunities available. If you’re already working with a social enterprise then we’d love to hear your experience by commenting below or by contactingour local team.

We now get frequesnt requests from business owners asking about video and in particular video testimonials…

I have made this video to epxplain why video testimonials are so effective as part of your marketing. Please watch it all… the psychology is in the video too… I think you’ll be suprised at how simple yet mind blowingly effective it is!

Video testimonials are with out doubt… the most imprtant video you can create for your business what ever yor product or service area may be.

From Coke Red [Pantone 484] to Starbucks Green [Pantone 3298C], Cadbury Purple [Pantone 2685C] and BP Green [Pantone 348C], colours can be valuable trademark rights. Now, even Hollywood films are getting in on the act, as Novagraaf’s Claire Jones explains.

Colours form some of the world’s most recognisable and valuable trademark rights. Once registered – if they can be registered – they provide the trademark owner with an exclusive right to use that shade of colour, in relation to the goods/services for which it is registered and in the territory for which it is registered, and to stop others from using an identical/similar colour in relation to identical/similar goods/services, in the territory of registration.

The Pantone system is one of the most widely adopted guides for identifying and matching colours. No matter where or how something is produced, by specifying the relevant Pantone swatch colour, the exact colour can be replicated. For trademarks, which require clarity, precision and the ability to be represented graphically, the use of an international colour code has long been recommended.

Introducing the Minion Yellow A collaboration between Pantone Colour Institute and Universal Pictures/Illumination Entertainment has resulted in the first ever character-branded colour, ‘Minion Yellow’, based on the popular characters from Despicable Me. According to Pantone’s press release, the colour “heightens awareness and creates clarity, lighting the way to the intelligence, originality and resourcefulness of an open mind – this is the color of hope, joy and optimism“.

The Pantone colour does not allow Universal et al to prevent others using the colour, at this time. The colour has simply been given a name and the recognition from Pantone in the same way as its ‘Colour of the Year’.

Will Universal apply to protect it as a trademark? The film has already surpassed the US$900million mark and Minion merchandise is hard to escape.

Hurdles to registration Following the Cadbury Purple decision in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales (see full judgement here), one of the main stumbling blocks to the registration of a colour trademark in the UK is the use of ‘predominant’ in the description of the mark, as this is deemed to be too imprecise. The main factors to be considered, in this respect, are the proportion of the surface area of the packaging on which the colour appears, the position of the colour, and whether it appears as a continuous block or is mixed up with other colours.

Does a Minion class as packaging? Is he more than 50% Minion Yellow? And what of the different Minion characters? They each take a different form and persona, unlike other animated characters, such Toy Story‘s Buzz Lightyear or Olaf from Frozen.

The biggest factor to be considered, and which is fundamental to all trademarks, is whether the colour yellow is solely indicative of Universal’s Minions and whether it serves to distinguish the goods of the Minion franchise from those of other similar franchises. What about other iconic yellow cartoon characters, such as Fox’s The Simpsons? Can the average consumer spot any difference in the colours of The Simpsons‘ characters versus the Minion characters, and do they even use the colour to differentiate between the merchandise of the two franchises?

Even if Universal is awarded a trademark, how will the colour be enforced? The studio cannot stop someone using Minion Yellow to paint a bedroom, and it may face difficulties when trying to enforce its rights against other uses of yellow for commercial gain. However, subject to the point above regarding The Simpsons, a registration could help prevent the use of copycat characters that are not recognisably Minions. A number of recent cases provide helpful guidance in the EU in this respect:

• Nivea Blue – Germany Germany’s Federal Court of Justice has sent a feud between Unilever and Beiersdorf back to the courts after ruling that the Patent Court’s requirement that 75% of consumers must associate the colour with Nivea was too steep. The Federal Court of Justice held that the requirement was prohibitively stringent and only a majority, or 50%, was sufficient.
• Orange – Spain In a dispute over the colour orange against Jazz Telecomm, the Spanish Supreme Court refused Orange’s application consisting of a plain orange square.
• Rosetta Stone – Germany Rosetta Stone, the publishers of a range of language software packages and German dictionary publisher Langenscheidt both use shades of yellow. The German Federal Supreme Court found that Rosetta Stone’s use of yellow for language dictionaries was an infringement of Langenscheidt’s rights. The judge held that, in order to register a colour as a trademark, the product had to have a large market share, a long history of sale and a public perception linking that colour to that product.

The verdict echoes the ruling of the earlier European Court of Justice ruling in Oberbank v Santander, which involved the colour red.

For a different kind of Minion branding, see here.

Claire Jones is a trademark attorney in the London office of Novagraaf

The Premier Loft Company was founded by Malcolm Newman in 1990 and provides quality loft conversions in London and Greater London. Their services include loft installations, kitchen extensions, ground floor extensions and shower rooms.

We have had the privilege of working with Premier Lofts this summer to add value to their website’s SEO and User Experience. When Premier Lofts approached us at Tudor Lodge Consultants, their site was not visible on any of Google’s search rankings, other than for their brand name. We therefore devised a strategy in order to boost their search results and make the site more user friendly, with the intention to generate more enquiries.

What we did for Premier Lofts

Our content team created over 40 different landing pages for Premier Lofts, each over 1,000 words with specific keywordsrelating to their products, presented with videos, images and maps to create an SEO friendly and a pleasant user experience.

For pages like loft conversions in north london, users are now presented with a high-quality video of Malcolm speaking about his services and what he can offer you. There is a clear map showing which areas they work in and images highlighting the quality of their work. Overall, creating a very optmised page.

From a technical aspect, we reviewed the code of the site to ensure faster page loading times and removed any crawl errors, dead links and 404 pages.

From a links perspective, we added the site to local directories to show Google that they are a real bricks and mortar company (excuse the pun!) and also made enquiries and gained links in local news and industry related sites.

The Results

Within a matter of weeks, the Premier Lofts site is now ranking in the top 3 on Google for ‘loft conversions + area’ including ‘Loft Conversions in Barnet’ and ‘Loft Conversions in Finsbury Park’

We look forward to working with Premier Lofts in the future to create more relevant content and generate high quality links – this will further boost their rankings on Google for competitive keywords and generate good enquiries.

Are you aware of the tech talent in Norfolk?

Where do you go when you need coders, softwaredevelopers or app creators? Where do you go when you need websites built and optimised for mobile devices? Where do you go to discover the latest developments in technology and digital creativity – and what they might mean for your business?

If you answered, ‘not sure’ or (worse still) ‘London’, then I have news for you. GreaterNorwich is home to a thriving tech and digital creative sector, employing some 14,000 people,and is a recognised #TechNation cluster (just one of 21 in the country according to Tech City UK). The companies range from innovative startups and micro-businesses to fast growing SMEs, including award winning agencies and advanced technology pioneers.

You can meet some of these companies and hear what the latest advancesin technology mean to your businessat ‘The Future is Here’ event, run by Norfolk Chamber, on 23 September 2015.

Get involved and meet the community

The organisers of Hot Source, Norfolk’s innovation forum, are also keen to strengthenlinks between local tech companies and the wider business community.One way we do this is to hold free quarterly events that explore the latest thinking about the ways technology is shaping business and society. However, we have also started to put together a list of all the different tech-related groups and volunteer led networksin Norfolk and Suffolk, to help local business people connect with this exciting sector.

Our aim at Hot Source is to encourage different sectors to shareideas and experiences, so as to stimulate innovation, power economic growth and create jobsin our region. We want to inspire our talented young people to stay and build their world-beating companies here. And we want entrepreneursfrom elsewhere to see Norwich and Norfolk as a great place start-up and scale-up their businesses.

With your help, we can make our region one of the most dynamic in the UK and Europe. We have a wealth of talent – as well as a great quality of life – but we will only prosper collectivelyif we make the most of the opportunities around us. Please take time to connect with the local #TechNation community and share this information with your network – because together we are stronger.