Sometimes, we might be indecisive whether to protect our company’s intellectual properties as this decision will involve time, man-power and costs. So do we really need to do it?

Yes, simply for the following reasons:

·      As we have the legal right, this therefore enables business to be done under the brand;

·      With the legal rights whether in various forms like trademark, patents, copyrights, and trade secret, we can prevent others from infringing them;

·      By registering them, this can strengthen the intellectual property rights. For example registering a trademark gives a stronger position than an unregistered trademark. In addition there could be surplus intellectual property which could be sold or licensed off.

Legal protection should extend further than the brand name and logo. Good examples of this are Cadbury, which trademarked the colour purple for exclusive use on its chocolate, and Coca-Cola, which trademarked the shape of its glass bottle.

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