Intellectual Property Rights are some of the most guarded assets for any brand owner today. Intellectual property infringement can be the violation of copyrights, patents, and trademarks. These challenging brand protection issues pose several concerns to brand owners around the world.
DEFINITIONS OF COPYRIGHT, PATENT AND TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT:
Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark, without the authorization of the trademark owner. An example would be when a third-party utilizes the trademark and company name of a brand owner on counterfeit packaging, unauthorized websites, or other media.
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of a brand owner’s copyrighted material which infringes on the brand owner’s exclusive right to reproduce the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works. An example would be the unauthorized use of a brand owner’s product portfolio images posted on third-party Internet websites or auction sites.
Patent infringement is the unauthorized use of a brand owner’s patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission can be granted in the form of a license. The infringement usually includes the commercial use or sale of the patented product.
Interestingly, trademark infringement can be applied to other areas of brand protection, including grey market product diversion. More recently, greater attention has been placed on the legality of grey market diversion throughout the world. Depending on the country, region, or union, and its individual laws and trade regulations, grey market diversion can be unlawful, if not banned altogether. In other countries such as the United States, the diversion of a brand owner’s products may not be considered illegal. In these instances, brand owners must consider other options to address the grey market problem.
KODAK’S EXPERTISE IN BRAND PROTECTION AND TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT
Kodak is uniquely positioned as a respected brand and with experience in brand protection to provide consulting services to protect global brands from intellectual property and trademark infringement. Kodak provides this experience on a consulting basis to a variety of industries including pharmaceuticals, luxury goods, consumer packaged goods, technology, food and beverage, automotive, government, banking and financial and retailers.
Kodak’s experience in brand protection includes helping clients evaluate and benchmark their current exposure to the risks arising from copyright, trademark and patent infringement. In addition help is provided to brand owners to design and implement monitoring and enforcement strategies. Expert Kodak brand protection consultants can review your needs and create solutions for you that can enhance the protection of your intellectual property.
Contact a Kodak Security Solutions expert today to learn more about how Kodak can help your enterprise with protection against trademark infringement.
