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Newsletter – February 2018

14 February 2018 By In Newsletters No Comments

In this February Newsletter issue:

  • Looking Ahead and Looking Behind
  • Zone Bay of Plenty / Waikato Expo
  • Trade Marks – Innocent Foods and Coca-Cola®
  • ZIP Top Tip – Searching the Market

Looking Ahead and Looking Behind

Happy New Year! We trust you all enjoyed a well-deserved break and your 2018 has started well. Zone has already hit this year running and we’re very excited to continue building our relationship with you all. If 2017 is anything to go by, we’re looking forward to what successes 2018 will bring.

Zone Bay of Plenty/Waikato Expo

Zone is excited to announce its IP consultancy, Zone IP, and online platform, Trademark Zone, will be attending the 2018 Bay of Plenty/Waikato Business Expo. Kickstart your 2018 by developing new networks and connections, maybe win some prizes and attend a variety of informational seminars.

Zone will be showcasing its personalised and cost-effective IP advice approach for your business at Stand 82. Click the banner below to find out more.

Trade Marks – Stay Vigilant. Stay Innocent.

The law protects those who are commercially savvy and proactive.

Coca-Cola® recently came under fire for forcing a small café in Wellington’s CBD to rebrand after discovering it was called Innocent Foods, which Coca-Cola said breached its trade mark rights. Coca-Cola owns 5 trade marks for the word INNOCENT for food and beverages and considered Innocent Foods was providing the same or similar products and services.

As it owned the mark in New Zealand, the corporate giant had the sole legal right to use the trade mark and took steps it was entitled to under law.

Choosing a name or brand can be risky and requires due vigilance and diligence. However, the consequences of using a brand you don’t legally own can be costly and could involve rebranding costs or even damages. Ultimately, it pays to be vigilant and to stay “innocent”.

Zone can undertake searches to determine if your preferred name is free for you to use. Contact us today to find out more.

Top Tip – Searching the Market

Innocent Foods’ failure to do its market research is a reminder that monitoring, surveying and searching the marketplace before making decisions is one of the best steps at protecting ourselves and our assets.

Not all trade marks will be registered, and not all registered trade marks will be in current use. Therefore, care must be taken from the outset in order to understand the extent to which you might be in breach of someone else’s rights.

Zone offers trade mark searches in order to help you protect yourselves and to ensure you have the right to your trade mark from day one.