Productivity Issues and Their Solutions

By Denis C. A. de Souza,

CEO, Pros and Cons Consultancy

Introduction:

From early Roman times, gifted makers of unique goods marked their products with a signature mark to help identify and distinguish their goods to their valued customers. This was important, as these goods travelled over great distances throughout the vast empire, which stretched from present day England to mainland Europe and the edges of the Mideast of Levant, inclusive of North Africa parts. Soon, these skilled artisans formed guilds or trade-related associations for common protection and also for trade promotion activities.

         During the Industrial Revolution age, these trade marks (trademarks which can be brands, images or even company’s names) became effective and powerful marketing tools. When registered with the commerce registrar, like a patent office, these registered trademarks ensured that branded goods met certain criteria’s or product traits/qualities:

a) That branded goods sold were genuine,

b) That these brands were of a specific quality, and

c) that legal owners of these goods could command a small premium, over and above the actual cost manufacture of the product.

         This exercise of branding and registration, in turn, created customer’s goodwill towards the brand, and the company selling these brands and owners of these trademarks became, overtime a length of time, important financial assets of the establishment. It is strictly not required that a trademark be registered with individual country’s commerce ministry to afford protection, but registration ensured the trade benefits:

a) It provided for legal protection against counterfeits,

b) It helped identify the branded goods in the market place against fakes,

c) It helps to inform the general public and policing authorities that a branded good is protected good under law, and

d) it helps self advertise the branded goods on its own, without formal advertising or even marketing.

         More importantly, registered brand guarantees a certain quality and consistency of a company’s products to its often dedicated consumer in the market place.

         Brand is the registered trademark of a company. A lot of early trading family surnames are registered trademarks and respected brands of their company, often mentioning the trade description. Some early brands have been function names of each respective industry or its industry’s process. Ford Motor Company is a classic example from America. Patents are intellectual property rights that are accorded to unique, new ideas or inventions. Initially, the humble telephone’s patent was given Alexander G. Bell. Patent’s protection is normally for a period of twenty years. Copyrights are given for original works of author, audio, video works and melodies. Unique and registered Computer software also comes under copyright protection. Strategic Business Alliance is one of the trade association that protects the rights of software industry, which also includes some computer chips manufacturers. 

         Branding: But how does a brand come about to be born or created in the first place? A brand is defined a unique trade name given to a product by its owner or its company. A brand’s essence is its DNA, which has four attributes or qualities:

a) A brand must have rational benefits,

b) A brand must have strong business proposition of satisfying a want or need,

c) A brand must have good brand personality and

d) a good brand must have strong emotional benefits or links.

         Material Benefits: Rational benefits of a brand are those that speak through logical reasoning to the end consumer. Often in its own unique brand language and relationship. Brands that offer the best value for money and guarantees certain qualify and gives a customer a certain consumer’s satisfaction. Brand proposition states clearly that there is a promise of good service to satisfy a customer’s want. Brand personality is the chosen character through which the given brand’s communicates the brand proposition to the targeted customer. MacDonald’s Ronald clown mascot at the entrance of each of its service outlet. Emotional benefits are those that satisfy the heart and soul of the customer’s desires.

         Productivity Functions: A registered trademark has seven key functions in commerce: These are : 1) It helps identify the brand, 2) It helps describe the brand’s many qualities, 3) Brand’s name helps to easy pronounce its name, 4) A good brand’s name must be global useable, 5) A good legal brand name registered helps protect and create a legal barrier to counterfeiting. 6) A brand’s name is equity of value and trade, and 7) a good brand have a feel good effort for its consumer.

         Trade Mark Laws: In England, the trade mark act was passed in 1938 to provide protection to brands, but modern commerce had changed significantly since that period. The 1994 revision has done much to improve that protection, and include several features that recognize wider ideas of what constitutes a brand. While in the USA, the trade mark act is called Lanham Act, which was passed in 1946 and then revised in 1988 in laws similar to other developed economics of the west. In 1994 the US signed the Trade Mark treaty that harmonizes global trade mark legistration. Madrid Convention treaty also does the same function for mostly European community countries.

         Although trade zones like EEC has one trade registration called Community Trade Mark. This makes easier to gain protection across the whole European Community with a single application and registration process. As trade mark professionals, we recommend trademarks registration nationally, because practically each nation has its own set of rules and registration. Besides this rules and registration process, it also includes its own interpretation of the law by the authorities on the ground, and naturally implementation of the same.

         In very large national countries like the USA, India, China, Russia and Brazil, each economic/geographic region or even within a large state within the same political union, have their ‘own’ version of trade marks. In India, there are four regional centers of registration. So it is better to check with each country’s legal trade mark experts before hand, while registration the brands or even a company’s names as trademarks. It is also important to find out what the brand names means in the local language.

         Trade Attributes: There are nine attributes or qualities to a trade mark: These are 1) Words or name, 2) Designs, 3) Letters, 4) Numerals, 5) Shape of Goods, 6) Packaging Shapes, 7) Sounds, 8) Smells and even, 9) Colours. These qualities of trademarks can be discussed later in great detail, although I will brief explain these qualities here :

         Brand Creation Process: During the brand creation, brain-stormers of new brand meet to discuss among other related things, but they pay particular attention to the brand name, itself. It is best that a cross disciplined team n assembled for such meetings. This is very important. A unique brand name is the first and most important function, other than a family name, which can also be unique. This is important for legal protection.

         Some brand ‘practicers’ choose abstract words, other go for completely new one, often formed out of thin air or out of the heads at that time. Some entrepreneurs employ highly technology ones, which often have no meaning in the actual word or words.

         Abstract brand names based on a general idea and not any particular real person, thing or situation or even a place. The given name must have some or all characteristics of the given product: It must have value for money, it must be durable, and long lasting, etc. A given new brand name must be easy great, but easy to remember, too. It must be easy to pronounce, and liked by the majority of your consumer.

         Persil from Unilever is an abstract trademark brand, so is Sony from Sony Corporation. Persil sounds like pearl clean, and Sony sounds like Sunny. Both good attributes to have and possess and also display. While one is on the household fast moving consumer goods category, the other is in entertainment electronics, two very different fields of commerce.

         Creators of brand new names are also trying to break free from the market clutter. In that earnest attempt, creating a new and exciting ones is important. Gillette, Ray Ban, Heineken are some of the new brand and exciting trademarks of their respective companies. Their creators must be careful that the names embody their product qualities, and not mean anything untowards in meaning or sense in a foreign language. Gillette is now a subsidiary of Procter & Gamble American multinational, which is present in personal hygiene category, besides household. Ray Ban is in personal eye-wear and eye protection, and Heineken is a global beer brand from the Netherlands (part of the EU).

         Family names for trademarks are in plentiful supply, but they are mostly unique too in their own right, besides very powerful brands in their categories. Cadbury, Heinz, Lipton, Disney, Hershey, Tata, Bass and Ford are some of the family names in today’s business universe. They also have the brand’s DNA of their owner’s heritage, products and status. The building blocks of good, strong brand must have powerful brand personality, besides strong rational benefits reasons. Ideally, superior of quality, and that command a hefty premium too. Brand proposition and strong emotional connect, link and ties. Most of the old family names have endured to this modern day after a few centuries of existing, due to careful nurturing, planning and caring.

         Business Patents : The high technology’s classic example is the chip leader, Intel, Strongly protected by the US computer chip maker in classic, but subtle brand advertising. Intel means simple intelligence, with the mother brand encircled, which states the Pentium chip in inside busy at work, on the outer jacket of each computer. Be that computer be a desk top, or a lap top or a hand held smart telephone. Intel’s brand worth more than thirteen point twenty-seven billion in total recently value, it is frequently in the top ten global brands listed by prominent financial dailies like the Financial Times, The Economist, and the International Herald Tribune, besides specialist trade magazines.

         3M is also a high technology brand and company. So are International Business Machine (IBM) and Apple Incorporated. Although strictly Apple is not a high technology name, but an inter-link/play to Newton’s famous ‘Apple’ movement, given to its intricate link by its maverick founder, Jobs. Although simple, it has worked very well for the company. All brands find position in a brand position grid of a brand developer, or brand marketing consultancy. All three along with Intel are prolific producers of patents. Patents protection is offered for unique and new inventions. Although American Lands also has patents.

         Then, there are ‘concept’ words as brand trademarks. Sega, Zeneca, Speedo are some of them. Some brands are functional names, although strictly speaking, not very good brand names in themselves, as they are not unique. Some practitioners of the trade mark craft may call attributes or type of marks, but they are in fact unique qualities of a single good brand. A strong, focused and in-depth trade mark must have most of above mentioned qualities for a long term good will of its customers, while other young brands may have only a few basic qualities in the beginning brand’s life’s journey. Some other brands may choose and pick, which attributes suit their industry or brand’s qualities.

         Unfortunately, some brands names have become functional, and hence lose their uniqueness, which is very important for initial trademark’s protection. Xerox is one such example from America. So immense popularity is also bad for a brand as in Xerox, which then becomes ordinary. Trademark owners must exercise control over their valuable brands. Some local brands acquired by multinationals are very strong to their own main brand and hence a threat. Example of this within India is the Thums-Up Cola Soda brand to the main classic Coca Cola, which the American giant brought up most wisely at a high price of valuation.

         Literary Copyrights : Englishman Charles Dickens’s ‘David Copperfield’ novel is an example of copyright protection. Copyright protection is often over the life of the author, plus seventy years for his legal estate. This protection differs from country to country and can be extended too in some special cases. So it would be wise to check with respective legal eagles. Trade mark registration must be renewed every ten years. This, too must, be checked for each country. Copyright protection is also extended to computer software, which is unique.

There are many other intellectual property rights than brands, trademarks, designs, logos, patents and copyrights. We should discuss these and more related issues in much detail later in the series. But why does copyright products and services need to be protected? In the next related article, we should talk about this words and brand names some more, among other eight qualities in details. Also why protection is important for copyrighted products and even unique services.

         Legal Registration: Although the trade mark registration procedure may be different in each country, the registration process itself is more or less the same. The registration process is as follows:

a) Selection and definition of the precise trade mark,

b) Search of trade mark database,

c) Application of registration,

d) Application examination and report generated,

e) Trade Mark is published in trade journals like UK’s Trade Mark Journal or USA’s Trade Mark Reporter. Each country has its own gazette or office trade publication of government, and

f) a trade mark registration certificate is issued.

         The trade mark registration process could take between twelve to eighteen month period, depending of the trade case’s complexity and clarity. TM – Indicates that the work is a trademark, but unregistered. ? - indicates that the work is a registered trademark. ? 2014 – This mark indicates that the work is copyrighted and at which year of incorporation. Patents works must be marked as ‘Patent registered 2014’, or ‘Patent pending,’ etc.

         Trademark’s prohibition parameters are that the marks mustn’t be representative of relevant trade, and trade mark shape cannot be based on nature of goods, and trade mark can’t run contrary to public decency and even morality. Registration must be for currently commercial activities. Trade mark colours are deemed unacceptable for their 'limitary' and time limit of registration. Although now some colours of corporations are accepted by regulators.

         Famous Trade Marks : These are the top ten brands in financial value terms to their respective legal owners, all of which are registered: 1) Coca Cola, 2) Marlboro, 3) IBM, 4) McDonald’s, 5) Disney, 6) Sony, 7) Kodak, 8) Intel, 9) Gillette, and 10) Budweiser. Some of these global brands are worthy more than fifty billion US dollars and are spread across the categories (of across the globe) like beverages, tobacco, mainframe computers, fast food, entertainment, electronics, photography, computer chips, personalized health care and mild alcohol like beer.

         Brand’s Financial Valuation: there are several methods of trademarks valuation. This is an extremely important business process, auxiliary to intellectual property rights issue, because the basic premise of business is to make a profit and the value of all your brands (inclusive of competitive pricing) is the sum total of your company’s business net profit. Believe, you me that all businessmen consider this the holy Gail of commerce, second in importance to profits only.

         There are several methods of trade mark valuation. The InterBrand’s method is the widely used. It is based on four key stages of:

a) Net profit, b) Added Value,

c) Multiple and d) to calculate brand value multiplying net profit of a

brand and its multiple there on.

Aaker follows another method of valuation. Employing multiple criteria to value brand equity. Young and Rubicam, the marketing agency, developed a multiple criteria method based on four brand equity criteria:

1) Differentiation,

2) Relevancy,

3) Esteem, and

4)Familiarity.

We can go in deep details discussion about trade mark valuation later in a different articles.

         But why do brand, trademarks, patents, and copyright needs to be protected and also promoted globally and within each national market or business segment? Today’s markets are incredibly crowded, extremely confusing, lightning fast, and very difficult to monitor business places, which have been more integrated into a global market world. Besides counterfeiting, you have ‘gray’ parallel products, own retailer’s private labels or brands, varied acts of ‘passing-off’ and dilution, among other industry issues.

         Licensing and franchising models are also aspects of trademark branding to be taken care of by the owners, or the legal trade associations. This is inclusive of royalty rates. Besides, the legal course of registration, monitoring, legal procedure, raids, and implementation of the law, courts, law enforcement authorities and even the local police. Original owners have to employ assorted methods and medias to convey their brand’s messages to all stakeholders.

         Effective Business Administration : This writer feels that every company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the ultimate brand ambassador and end-protector of his company’s trademarks and must ensure that the customer is constantly engaged in a continuous two-way communication/dialogue to ensure his client/customer’s loyalty and resort to take actions.

         It must be a total experience of branding the trademark. A business environment that informs, identify, intrigues, immense, and creates positive imagination of the customer, as the hero of his own adventure of consumerism. That customer’s experience must be in the form of a mountain ascent shape structure of graph on a natural growth chart of company. The company’s CEO must also acknowledge distinct, subtle economic shift of growth away from the mature Western countries and their maturing economies to the emerging countries of the East and some frontier markets of the Middle East. Some call this techno shift as globalization and with a global reach in economic mind of multinationals, there is a need for an effective media route to reach this audience. That cost effective media route and channel is the worldwide internet as an increasing part of the marketing mix and advertising budget.

Digital Marketing Reach : Social medias websites like Face book, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, MySpace, Google, Instagram, deviant art, Live journal, tagged, orkut, cafe mom, ning, meet up, and my life, etc have been interactive marketing tools for trademark marketers as well as a feedback and response device. Ebizmba’s ranks Face book as the leader with eight hundred million users and counting. All of the above mentioned names are in rank order.

One’s own company’s website can also be a powerful marketing medium and tool, if employed in a focused manner. Response time is critical. Some news websites refresh that news two or even three times as day, instead once. Some have cookies installed to gauge the online visitors’ habits and offer him highly customized offers. Others like the New York Times actively monitors its website edition and let the visitor know how many times they can view free content in a month. So does the Washington Post as will Times of India.

And all that economic activities calls for a US Government-led green paper for internet industry discussion on the subject because e-Commerce is becoming an important market place, instead of just another marketing channel. So too are tiny, but powerful smart digital mobiles and smart tablets, and assorted other electronics devices, E-cloud storage of memory, and strictly enforcement of protection and the gigantic task of opening important emerging markets.

Brand Journey : The ultimate trade mark journey must have four stages of customer’s experiences. Experiences are that of : a) one of initiation of customer, b) rite of customer’s passage, c) identify the brand with customer, or close association or alignment, and d) positive Memory creation of brand with customer. This is a true brand’s life journey along with its lifelong customer, and satisfying his needs.

Digital Medias and e-commerce strategies are many, as are its varied usages by brand marketing companies in customer engagement and effective marketing exercises. From online hugely discounted airlines ticket bookings, to purchase of light goods like flowers, and books from websites, far far away in distant foreign counties, through the financial instrument like credit cards, or cash on delivery. For a progressive, far sighted company must create an internal brand customer culture too, of following brand values like : a) true belief, b) memorable language, c) caring altitudes, d) concerned behavior and e) rewarding customer experience.

Marketing Promotions : A trade mark guild’s CEO must employ seven points of marketing to promotion his association’s clients’ trade marks and their related business: 1) employing different (short term and long) strategies, after basic demographic-based research, but in one annual integrated marketing business plan in an engaging format with all stakeholders. The CEO must portray 2) material benefits to all stakeholders of adhering to laws of trademarks, patents, and copyrights. He/she must ensure 3) protection and related promotions of informing the public. 4) Public awareness derives in the marketplace are key to that top of mind recall. All legal and company key professional must 5) constant interact with all stakeholders and trade. There must be 6) focused trade mark and copyright education and staff training. The focus of the association must be narrow on individual customer’s product categories. And 7) individual trade mark attention is perquisite in case of infringement cases.

As stated before in this article, in the public domain several times, and via trade means, brands are important to their rightful owners, and trade marks registered are invaluable for continued business patronage and in business relationships. Together, they both ensure continued business success and guaranteed returns, if the same dual protection and promoted functions are maintained. The future of trademarks and brands is bright, more so in developing markets, where budding economics realized the inherited values system of brands as relationship tools, their continued development and most certainly, their legal protection. It is found cheap and better to pursue the customer and counterfeiters through subtle means than through the strong arm of the law, which is long, and expensive. And sometimes the owner and his representative suffers a loss of face and name, or both.

One Industry Guild in Focus : Computer software and hardware industry’s principal advocate organization, Business Strategic Alliance (BSA) (sub title : The Soft Alliance) is based out of US’s federal capital of Washington, District of Columbia, and has been in existence for nearly twenty-five years. Or even London, the United Kingdom.

         Each national country had their own software organizations like Business Software Association, Australia, and Canadian Alliance against Software theft and International Trade Association in New York City, USA.

BSA is home to some of the leading software developers and hardware manufacturers: Altium, ANSYS, Autodesk, Adobe, Apple, Aveva, Bentley, CA Technology, CNC Software, Dell, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Microsoft, Minitab, Oracle, PTC, Parametric, Rockwell Automation, Rosetta Stone, Salesforce.com, Siemens, Symantec, Tekla, Mathwork, and Trend Micro besides others.

         The organization’s statistics are fairly impressive. In its corporate communication claim an annual revenue of US $ 65 million for the year 2012. Revenue is in the form of dues based on annual turnover of each member company, plus financial recoveries from lawsuits against intellectual property enforcement programs. It dues are based on turnover, then Microsoft with its monotonous revenues of UA $ 87 billions will have influences on association’s operations, opinions, and overall direction. 

         Presence in eighty countries of the world and staffed by more than 100 professionals, most of BSA employees are legal. Of the thirteen foreign offices, the majority of which are based in the USA, at Washington, Silicon Valley, New York, and Seattle. Although the company has a physical offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jakarta, Kuala Lumper, London, Mexico City, Munich, New Delhi, Taipei, Tokyo, S?o Paulo, Singapore and Sydney, it lacks presence in critical countries and cities like Russia, the Mideast, and Africa. Prominent business national hubs Moscow, Riyadh and Cape Town. They also lack representation in Central America, Canada, Eastern Europe, Far East countries like Vietnam and Philippines. In Africa itself, it will need four centers : South Africa, Egypt, Tunis and Congo, besides in several cities of the Arabian Gulf, a rapidly growing region.

         The guild or trade advisory like be the business approach has eight objectives in mind:

1) Leading voice on technology issues,

2) alliances,

3) cloud computing policy framework,

4)technology trade agenda,

5)intellectual property theft worldwide,

6)benchmarking and results-driven action,

7) BSA membership and engagement, and

8)BSA organizational and operational effectiveness.

         The senior leadership role calls for several leadership characteristics: a) focusing on action and outcomes, b) communicating effectively, c) managing diverse relationships, d) understanding the business, e) being organizationally savvy, f) creating the new and different and g) getting work done through others like law enforcements and customs.

         The leadership candidate must be passionate advocate and public voice, poised, energetic and decisive leader with leadership experience and relevant management experience. 

         Stop Online Piracy Act is a United States bill introduced by U.S. Representative Lamar S. Smith (R-TX) to expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to combat online copyright infringement and online trafficking in counterfeit goods. Provisions include the requesting of court orders to bar advertising networks and payment facilities from conducting business with infringing websites, and search engines from linking to the websites, and court orders requiring Internet service providers to block access to the websites. BSA and its members are within their legal rights to ask for these measures. The law would expand existing criminal laws to include unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content, imposing a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Proponents of the legislation state it will protect the intellectual-property market and corresponding industry, jobs and revenue, and is necessary to bolster enforcement of copyright laws, especially against foreign-owned and operated websites. Claiming flaws in present laws that do not cover foreign-owned and operated websites, and citing examples of active promotion of rogue websites by U.S. search engines, proponents assert stronger enforcement tools are needed.

Opponents state the proposed legislation threatens free speech and innovation, and enables law enforcement to block access to entire internet domains due to infringing content posted on a single blog or webpage. They have raised concerns that SOPA would bypass the "safe harbor" protections from liability presently afforded to websites by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Library associations have expressed concerns that the legislation's emphasis on stronger copyright enforcement would expose libraries to prosecution. Other opponents state that requiring search engines to delete domain names violates the First Amendment and could begin a worldwide arms race of unprecedented Internet censorship.

In response to the protest actions, the Recording Industry Association of America stated, "It's a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users, and arm them with misinformation", and "it's very difficult to counter the misinformation when the disseminators also own the platform."

Opponents of the bill have proposed the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act as an alternative. On January 20, 2012, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Smith postponed plans to draft the bill: "The committee remains committed to finding a solution to the problem of online piracy that protects American intellectual property and innovation ... The House Judiciary Committee will postpone consideration of the legislation until there is wider agreement on a solution."

As the digital economy accelerates it is driving rapid evolution in conveyance technology, besides going wireless. The association advocate for more accurate legal protection with the national governments, and also seeks to foster better market conditions that do encourage innovation and creativity with these priorities: safeguard of intellectual property rights and its related protections, opening of markets to digital trade and enabling cloud computing segment.

Legal Enforcement Efforts : Strengthening IPR enforcement entails combat of infringement in emerging markets. Devoting sufficient man power resources and up-to-date law enforcement training, ideally on a six monthly basis. Better coordination between various stakeholders, ideally through a Joint Program. This is inclusive of concluding partnership trade agreement and an International Services Agreement as business travelers may avail of international warranty services.

Online software piracy is an ongoing fight that is made difficult, because of multiple footprints of the culprit, and often the computer servers may be in a third country, who may not allow access because of booming illegal trade. Piracy Bay is a website known, but for one site shut down, hundreds open up, often in third world countries, where markets are unorganized and therefore difficult to police or even find the pirates.

Internet Enforcement Program works to identify and remove unlicensed software products online. BSA’s internet experts use an online auction tracking system and other proprietary technologies to monitor, investigate and seek enforcement against the distribution of pirated software. Illegal softwares can be found on net via auction sites, peer-to-peer sites, Bit Torrent indeed sites, one clock file hosting sites, and internet channels like social networks, business to consumer and business to business sites.

BSA works to educate consumers about risk of unlicensed softwares through its B4USurf, Pense Antes de Copiar and Faces of Internet Piracy programs. This industry author still has ethnics problems with its report piracy campaign, but think compliance record is getting better with new leaders at the helm. Other trade associations from all the globe will be in focus in future series.

Conclusion : It is still very early in the life journey of a registered trademark in these frontier markets, which are booming like Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. So trademarks works like copyright enforcement goes on. In the Emirates, the copyright law has been tightened. Now there is a two year prison sentence for caught counterfeiters, a one million dirham’s fine, and their ugly mug gets publicity at their own expense. It has lead to initial loss of bustling business to the fashion accessories of middle class districts like Karama and certain parts of Bur Dubai, besides clandestine Souks of Arabia. The UAE Dirhams is different in value and trade to other similar currencies in the middle east and north african regions of NEMA.

I get the good feeling that a better way, would be to convert these missed opportunity into the legal trade of active engagement of legit business. So business of copyrights goes on, as does the work of IPRs. But there is much more to IPRs than just brands, trademarks, patents and copyrights. I have been told that there are some twenty-three IP rights in all. Been in a frontier market with limited exposure to the advance west, I too have a learning experience to undertake. Like Life itself, legal rights process is a lifelong learning experience of enrichment of all: both material and enlightenment, but delicate checks and balances are required for mutual benefits for all. –End.

Author's Note: This is an industry paper from my literary work, 'The Collected Works of Denis C.A. de Souza.'