How do I protect my brand?

I grew up listening to a young red-headed musician playing piano and guitar.

But, unlike Ed Sheeran, my little brother didn’t have the stress of becoming a global star and defending copyright infringement claims in the High Court. A fallout of this is that I still need to work, but I do get to see him perform as he works his way around the sticky-floored venues of London sporting his keys and sax.

But this blog isn’t about red-headed musicians. It’s about a humble soup can and the power of great brands.

Soup cans

If you think of an image of a can of tomato soup, what springs to mind?

Hopefully, it’s the image of a Campbell’s tomato soup can that formed the staple to Americans’ cupboards during the 60s (if not, please email me your answer!). Campbell would have invested heavily in the simple red and white artwork on the can, their brand name and logo. I’m sure their CEO didn’t take offence either by Andy Warhol appropriating them for his famous pop art series of Campbell’s soup cans and the free marketing they received.

From his time working as an artist for advertising companies, Warhol knew the power that brands can have on consumers. A great example of this is from one of his early fashion illustrations of “Tattooed Woman Holding a Rose”, where he created a calling card to major global brands by “tattooing” the woman’s body with their logos as a pitch for business.

Trade mark protection

At Briffa we can help you protect both your brand name and brand’s logo by registering them as trade marks in the UK, Europe or wherever in the world your business has customers via our longstanding ties with international agents.

Once registered your trade mark will provide you with protection in the relevant class of goods or services your business operates (whether that’s the retail of soup or live music venues).

Copyright protection

Our specialist team will also help you to ensure you actually own the copyright subsisting in your logo, and not the freelancer you engaged to create it (the latter being the position under the law of England and Wales unless there is a contract in place to the contrary).

Obtaining trade mark advice early on for your business also helps safeguard you from doing an expensive and timely re-branding later down the line.

If you would like help protecting your business’ brand, please feel free to contact us so you can have a free no-obligation chat with one of our specialist lawyers.