John Pryor on LinkedIn: the REAL reason ‘sierra mist’ is now ‘starry’ 💚💛 (2024)

‘Naming is one of the most difficult things you'll do, because big brands defend their name vigorously’. Michael Hobbs.CHOOSE CAREFULLYIf you are a small, specialist nutrition brand from Wigan, why would you knowingly step on the toes of food giants like Nestle, and call your product ‘Crunch’?‘Why? Because name spaces - the combination of domain names, social media IDs, and trademarks - are congested. It is very hard to find a good combination that is not going to get challenged.’ Entrepreneur Michael Hobbs, posted on LinkedIn earlier this week. WHY FIGHT THE GIANT?85 year old Crunch was Nestle’s best selling bar in the States at one time and was launched in the UK in 1965. Nestle decided it was time to take down the name KBF Enterprises were using for their protein bar, Warrior Crunch, except a legal error lost Nestle the battle!!WARRIOR LUCK Unbelievably the lawyers for Nestle failed to submit a document on time, lied about it, and as aresult the UKIPO registrar responded by revoking the Nestle CRUNCH trademark!!PLAN AHEADScan the horizon and look out for risks As Michael Hobbs says: ‘If namespaces, #trademarks and personality rights are complex in our current digital and physical world, how do they play out in the world of #AI and #advertising?’

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Can You Sue Suppliers For Stealing Your Inventions?What If Your Partner Files Your Trade Secret Inventions As Patents?Tesla Is Suing EV Battery Supplier Over Alleged Disclosure of Trade SecretsIt often happens in partnerships that your partner files your inventions as patents, or perhaps even worse your trade secrets as patents. It is not always malevolent since ideas come into people’s heads and they cannot always remember where they originated - busy people working on lots of projects maybe only spending a short time on yours etc. Sometimes it is the bigger party asserting their dominance – essentially saying ‘so what? we are helping both of us and we will give you a license anyway’Tesla seem a bit worked up about this one (with Musk you never quite know what is going on) but they have sued a former supplier over stealing trade secrets and filing patents on the back of them. How to Prevent this Happening – Get In Touch: john@exaltip.com Thoughts:- Having a clear list of your Trade Secrets upfront and date stamped helps assert your rights in such cases. - I think a growing issue is not just asserting your Trade Secrets but also proving that you have not misappropriated other people’s Trade Secrets especially as many countries are making Trade Secrets theft as criminal law now. - Having a list of what is yours and clear policies and training in place will help here.

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Scammers are impersonating Richard Branson to rip people off.Richard Branson says people are being scammed by fraudsters impersonating him.Recently Branson’s people took down more than 130 instances of him being impersonated, fake social media pages, misleading ads and false endorsem*nts.In one instance a fraudster did an “extremely accurate impression” of Branson, calling his friend claiming he needed $2 million for a clean up in the British Virgin Islands after Hurricane Irma. Branson’s friend gave the $2 million to the impersonator!With AI it is so difficult to spot the difference, and not just with Richard Branson with popstars, sports stars, influencers and politicians.Social Media is taking a tougher stance on fake accounts and verification will become the norm. Having a registered trademark helps with verification on social media and reduces the chances of scams. Want to know more give me a call?

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How will you respond when accused of trade secrets theft?The police minister’s wife is accused of using trade secrets from her former employer in a corporate espionage case!Trade secrets work both ways either you will accuse someone of stealing yours or someone will accuse you of stealing theirs, so how do you prepare?It is an unavoidable fact that trade secrets litigation is on the rise and also that relationships end in dispute. It is sensible to make some preparations. In the Police minister’s wife case, she is accused ‘conspiring to poach her former employer’s client list for their new firm, leading to losses of approximately £1.5m’.One red flag for me is the ‘delay in wiping her laptop’ …. it did not happen until after she had left the business!At Exalt IP we help prepare for such eventualities. How are you preparing your business for trade secrets theft?https://lnkd.in/eRaw8kmg.

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