Campbell’s – the famous soup company – was valued some time ago at US$6 billion. Approximately US$4 billion of that price was for the intellectual property in the Campbell’s name. This is just one example showing how valuable intellectual property can be – but only if it is protected properly, a fact that many people neglect to pay attention to.
Any business wishing to establish a national or international identity should take steps to protect the use of its name, logo or other intellectual property. Simply registering a company or internet domain name does not prevent others from registering similar names in the same jurisdiction, or identical names in other jurisdictions.
The most effective way to guard against this happening is to register a trademark or service mark in each jurisdiction in which one wishes to be protected, or intends to carry out business. In certain situations there may be some short cuts available. For example, registering a trademark in the European Union to cover all EU member countries, and under the Madrid Protocol to cover a number of others.
Sovereign has established an intellectual property division that is supervised by one of the world’s leading intellectual property experts. Services provided include:
- Registration of trademarks anywhere in the world and advice on a suitable trademark programme
- A monitoring service to advise when others attempt to register similar marks
- Advice on all aspects of intellectual property registration including designs, patents and copyright
- Advice and proactive assistance to protect intellectual property rights from infringement and other abuse
- Patent and petty patent registration
- Domain name registration and escrow services
Cyprus Profile, April 2012
Seeking financial reassurance
lan Le Breton, Gibraltar Magazine, March 2012
Nationality by Investment
Howard Bilton, HK Golfer, January 2012