22 October 2025 · Articles, Brand, Know-How, Software
From $160m to $16m for the social news aggregator. Valued at $160m in 2008 when Digg had 30m users a month, the value plummeted to $16m when its users dropped to 7m a month in 2012. 45 million in funding from A list investors like Marc Andreessen, Reid Hoffman, Greylock Partners and others. This was […]
Read More9 April 2025 · Articles, Brand, Confidential Information, Counterfeit, Fakes, Information Security, Innovation, Investors, Patents
It is a fact of. business life that you will hit the IP risks and bumps at some stage: These may include the following IP risks: Trademark musical chairs ! Copyright flattery (or not)? Trusted colleague as was. Reputation under threat. Information theft. Patent bullying by a big kid. Social media lock out Fakes IP […]
Read More3 February 2025 · Articles, Brand, Confidential Information, Information Security, Trade secrets
Guilty South Korean company, Kolon admitted conspiring with two former DuPont employees between 2006 and 2009 to get access to information about how DuPont makes its Kevlar fibres. Punishment Kolon was fined $920m18-month jail sentences handed down to the former DuPont employees!Kolon was banned from manufacturing or marketing its Kevlar competing Heracron fibre for 20 […]
Read More28 January 2025 · Articles, Brand, Strategy
The Lights are On, but No One is Home! The Aga saga. Aga stores are closing around Britian, is this because the English love affair with this venerable cooker is over or just it just need a re-brand? Aga vacated its City of London, Liverpool Street store leaving the brand proudly on display on an […]
Read More24 January 2025 · Brand, Counterfeit, Cyber Security, Information Security, Trade Mark, Trademark
Can you be authentic without a registered trademark? Not with Google, or Outlook, or Outlook, or Microsoft, or Amazon, or MailChimp……….etc. The blue tick (or check mark) is being applied beyond social media, as proof of authenticity, but to get the blue tick you need to have a trademark registered with the an approved intellectual […]
Read More29 November 2024 · Articles, Brand, IP Strategy, Trademark
Some Re-Brands Are Logical To Existing Customers ‘It does what it says on the packet’ Others are ambitious even ‘game changing’, especially when seeking to attract a new target customer. Jeremy Clarkson once described the Jaguar (or jaGuar) driver as flat cap man, and this may well once have been the case. Attention and eyeballs […]
Read More14 November 2024 · Articles, Brand, Brokerage, Domain Name, Investors, Monetisation
Dharmesh Shah CTO of HubSpot spotted an opportunity, buying domain name Chat.com $15.5m! Less than a year later he sold it again for $20m! The buyer none less than Open AI CEO Sam Altman! Shah got a pretty healthy return on his investment, even accepting 50% of the sale price as Open AI stock! This […]
Read More8 November 2024 · Articles, Brand, Influencer, IP Education, IP Strategy, IP Value, Social Media, Trademark
Why Portakabin is Entitled to Fight its Trademark Battle I was very pleased to be quoted in Friday’s The Times. A brilliant article by Harry Wallop demonstrating the importance of defending brand value and reputation using registered trademark rights. The importance of careful selection and management, also surveillance, throughout the life of the brand to […]
Read More22 October 2024 · Articles, Brand, IP Strategy, Trademark
What can you do when Big Co decides they like your name? In 2021 there were 750 companies registered at UK Companies House with Meta in their name. Did Facebook care when they changed their name to Meta? Well they cared enough to spend $60m buying up the trademark assets of U.S. regional bank Meta […]
Read More8 October 2024 · Articles, Brand, Trademark
Deliberate Trademark Infringement by Nike? Big Co knowingly infringes Small Co’s trademark expecting to go to court and win because it could outspend smaller Co? This is what Judge Greenspan said in a trademark fight between Nike and a company called Lontex over the brand Cool Compression. It is a strategy but not one that […]
Read More5 October 2024 · Articles, Brand, Copyright, Influencer, Music, Social Media
Social Media Influencer Katrin Szymborska’s company declared bankrupt in August 2024. The same year she received two hefty fines, contributing to the demise of her company. Fined for Using Music on Social Media She was fined 1m SEK for hidden advertising i.e. not declaring her paid promotions, then in June this year for using Abba […]
Read More18 September 2024 · Articles, Brand, Trademark
Why invite trouble when you choose your name? ‘Easy’ anything is going to get challenged by Stelios and his easyGroup lawyers so why would you even bother? Change Your Name? Pop group Easy Life had to change their name to Hard Life after a trademark contest with easyGroup. easyGroup is the owner of more than […]
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