BBS102 Legal Aspects of Brand Management

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(a) A brief digest of the Key facts

This report covers a brief description the concept of brand management presented by different authors and scholars. Brand management is a merchandising technique and tool which is used by the administration of the company and make focus on developing the reputation of a brand or products and services which are offered by a company. Brand refers to a company and its name, in about that customers think and set a mind set to purchase goods and services from it. It can be a component of marketing that defines how an organisation is recognised and perceived in the market. Effective administration of the brand of the business is beneficial for the company because it assists in improving the brand loyalty which subsequently assures consumers coming back and repurchase of the goods and services which are manufactured by the firm (Sulkowski, Seliga and Wozniak, 2019). The major purpose of management of the images of the company in the market is to build, measure and control brand equity and devising a trade name to have its own value which, when related with the goods, maximises its overall value both financially and non-monetarily.

When a company establish and founded then it is essential for it to register its trade name with Intellectual property office of United Kingdom. This registration is helpful in assuring that the trade name registered by business is not copied by any other enterprise. This registration is led by owner of the company to file of listed in IPO so that the business of the company is secured and no one can copy it. Intellectual property right indicates to the legal rights which are granted with the aim to protect and secure the creations of the intellect (Stim, 2017). It can be a right that is had by an individual or by an organisation to have exclusive rights to utilise its own plans, thoughts or other intangible assets without the risk and threat of rivalry, at least a particular time frame. These right consist industrial property rights like patents, trademark, copyrights etc. Want Dissertation help?

Copy right is a lawful term which is utilised to define the rights that manufacturer have over their written material and aesthetic works. Works which are considered by copyright range from books, music, articles, journals, paintings, sculpture, films, computer programs, database, adverting, technical drawings and maps etc. If any individual deals or operate businesses which involve use of copyrights, then the person required to file their business for copyright. So that they can have the right and responsible for making and designing plan and plan of actions. It crucial for the business owner because it represents the ownership of one's original work. To have the authority states that the person can protect the work and make control on its business.

Patent is also a component of intellectual property which offers its owner the legitimate right to exclude others from devising, utilising, merchandising and importing an invention for a limited time frame of years, in conversation for publishing a facultative public revelation of the invention.

Trademark is another component of Intellectual property which is a service mark and consists any word, name, symbol, device and any other combination, utilised or intended to be used to find out and separate the products or services or one marketer and businessperson from those of others. It also refers as an indicator the source of origin of the products and services. It is a marketing expressive style that visually sets a firm or commodity apart form same items raying to gain market share. It is used by those business persons who are offering different services by operating a business. It is used by the companies to provide protection to their business as well target audiences (Bone, 2015). It is crucial for the company because it help in protect the name of the company, managing the brand and others. In the above mentioned case study the company also face use of legal right in context of its business.

The main issues within the company are occurred because the administration of the company trying to use Trade Mark of another firm which also exist in the market and successfully operated its business. So the issues are occurred within the firm due to legal framework. Material facts are the essential data and in formation in a case and affiliate instantly to the conflict at hand. If the company mentioned in the case study, trying to use the Trademark of another firm then it creates issues for the business and operation of the firm in the market (Yen, 2015). If the company use the Trademark of the another firm then it faces the main issue of fine, compensate and the company can file a legal case in the court which can affect the bard image of the company. Brand image and name is an important for an organisation if it negatively affect due to any reason then is create unfavourable impact upon the business of the company in term of deceasing the sales, customer turnover, minimising profitability and others. It also generates unfavourable impact upon the financial condition of the company.

(b) Identification of relevant legal issues

Trademark can be referred to as a type of intellectual property that constitutes recognisable signs, designs or expressions which creates a distinction between certain product from the merchandise of other individuals. The trademark which is undertaken to determine a service is referred to as service mark. In this regard, it has been acknowledged that the owner of trademark can either be a person, a company or any kind of legal enterprise. A trademark is something which is either present on the product packaging, labelling, voucher or on the top of the merchandise itself. With respect to corporate identity, trademark has been usually regarded to be present upon the building of a company. In legal terms, it can be recognised that they are the form of IP.

Trademark infringement can be referred to as the unauthorised use of any service mark or trademark. Such kind of usage can be in relation to merchandise or facilities and may even result in confusions, deceptions and misunderstandings with regards to the actual organisation from which the merchandise or service arose from. In relation to this, it can be analysed that the owners of trademark possess the right to undertake legal actions in case they are of the view that their trademark has been infringed. In this regard, if it is proved that trademark has actually been infringed by a party, then an order of court has the right to prevent a defendant from making use of the trademark and it also possible that the owner may get monetary benefit from the party from breached the law.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) like trademark provides individuals, groups or companies with the right of ownership against the physical property. It is significant for a firm to do registration of trademark so as to protect their legal identity in an effective manner. In this regard, there are some important provisions that pertain in relation to trademark and its infringement.

The Trade Marks Act 1994 is the law that governs trademarks in the confines of UK as well as the Isle of Man (Drahos, 2016). It contains a number of subsections which comprise of provisions regarding trademarks and their infringement. Such provisions are explained in a detailed manner as follows: -

Section 10(1) Trade Marks Act:

This section is applicable when an unauthorised person uses a trademark which is similar to a registered trademark as well as placed on like-for-like merchandise and facilities. In this regard, it can be said that even minor changes insignificant from the perspective of consumer is regarded to be identical in relation to infringement of trademarks (Whish and Bailey, 2015).

Section 10(2)(a) & (b) Trade Marks Act:

This section and its provisions are applicable whereby an unauthorised individual, group or legal entity places similar registered trademark upon identical merchandise and facilities, thus developing confusions regarding the origin of merchandise or facilities along with the probability of a relation between 2 trademarks.

Read More: Political Structure and Implication for PRSection 10(3) Trade Marks Act:

The provisions of this section are applicable in case when an unauthorised individual or entity takes into use a similar trademark upon merchandise or facilities that are not of similar nature, gaining from the reputation or goodwill of registered trademark within the confines of European Union or United Kingdom. This is considered to be functioning against the character of registered trademark.

Besides the above important and crucial provision pertaining to the law of trademarks, it acknowledged that a trademark that gains from the existent goodwill or value is also infringed if a sign is used in the ‘course of trade'. This occurs when a trademarked sign is used in relation to goods or services identical to or similar to the trade mark to obtain an unfair advantage to the detriment of the registered trade mark.

It has been identified that U.K trade mark is duly governed under the Trade Mark Act 1994. In Section 1 of trade mark act defined this as "any sign capable of being represented graphically which is capable of distinguishing goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings." In addition to this, it has been identified that there are different types of practical requirements that are required to be duly undertake, as it is essential that things that are covered in trademark are required to be in graphical represent form. In addition to this, it has also been considered that properties that falls under this act must be capable of distinguishing goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings. There are different types of intellectual property rights that are present in U.K. In this each and every right have their own set of formality, duration period and level of protection. In this, it is important for organisation and individual those who creates a product to protect their intellectual property by ensuring that they engage in correct procedure. It has been identified that many individuals may incorrectly assert a claim for copyright infringement. Further it has been evaluated that, trademark infringement is also other form of intellectual property right which is required to be effectively understand by individuals and have awareness about it. In this, it has been found out that recently, the famous children's toy Rubiks cube found itself at the bitter end of a trademark battle. In this, company duly protected company name as well as logo for services and with the help of trademark right. Organisation can obtain trademark via registration as well as lasts indefinitely. With the help of this company can make sure that other individual or organisation does not take advantage of certain degree of reputation and benefits that are duly associated with entity name. Further it has been determined that it also allow entity to undertake necessary action against any other entity those who incorrectly taken advantage of company name.

Intellectual property law which is also termed as IP duly governs the accessibility as well as ownership of inventions and ideas on intangible and tangible concepts. Thus, as per the above mentioned discussion it has been analysed that “Yes the opponent can stop the use of name “NEXT LEVEL” by the applicant. In this, there are different types of aspects that are covered in within Intellectual property. It has been identified that intellectual property rights mainly fall under four main areas that include, patents, copyrights, design rights and trademarks. According to the present case scenario, company with the help of trademark can effectively able to safeguard their word, design, slogan, symbol as well as other unique device. In addition to this, it has been identified that trademarks are duly registered at territory and national level within a government body. With the help of these measures organisation can effectively able to save guard their property with other organisations. Thus, as per the above mentioned discussion it has been identified that, opponent mark was duly filed before the mark of applicant and also duly registered in the year 2009 in classes 18, 24 and 25 of the Nice Classification system. Thus, according to the scenario with the due consideration of trademark law opponent can stop name “NEXT LEVEL” by applicant.

(c) Application

Intellectual property rights are outlined in the Article 27 of Universal declaration of Human rights and this article will be providing and helping Next Retail PLC in protecting their sole rights to use this name. Trade mark law is a best suitable law which can be used by this company in protection of their name. There are trade mark organisations. Trade mark is related with similar name or word which is being used by any other company or any combination of similar elements. So, it becomes the responsibility of next that they can stop Next level in using their name in to be registered as a trade mark (Durham, 2018). This is a law which is related with “intent to use” principle and this was based on a procedure of how to use this law so that it can help in protection of laws which are related with abandonment of usage of similar name with the goods in which company is dealing is different. In such case also if a particular name is already registered then it cannot be used or applied for a trade mark purpose by any other company. In this scenario Next Retail PLC is already registered with U.S. Patent and this trade mark officer has already registered this under this law. This is filed under section 8 which grants the right of continuous usage if this name by a company. Intellectual property rights are tool which can be used by Next Retail PLC this right also consist of patent right in which patent corporation treaty which is an international patent law grants a sole right to a registered company to use a particular brand name. This act also providing a legal law which can help this organisation in which there is an obligation that if any other company files application fir usage of that name then it will lead to stoppage of application and that will be rejected at the initial stage itself.Take help form our essay writing services UK.

This has a relevance that if all the conditions which are part of intellectual property rights are fulfilled then it leads to a situation of protection of their name by complaining. Patent law protects a company for a period of twenty years this leads to protection of the name being copied by any other organisation. This will help Next Retail PLC in removing of the unfair competition and is also very helpful in keeping a clarity for their customers (Lee, 2015). There are certain conditions which have to be fulfilled by Next Retail PLC so that they can apply for getting legal protection if there has been non-compliance of any law then it may lead to rejection of their application for infringement of rights. If in any case these laws will be used by this company so that the registration benefits can be availed by them in a proper manner. Also, this will lead to a situation in which Next Retail PLC will be able to protect the unauthorised usage and their brand name to be unique in the external market.

(d) Conclusion

On the basis of the description provided above it has been evaluated that that YS Garments LLC has filled for a trade mark application to the UK intellectual property office for the word “Next Level” but the British multinational clothing retailer Next Retail Plc opposed this mark within two-month opposition period. Thus, following conclusion is made about the fact that whether the opponent (Next retail plc) can stop the applicant (YS Garments LLC) fro making use of this trade mark. Use of following policies and acts made for protection of intellectual rights are made to draw a conclusion about this fact of making use of trademark “Next Level”.

Copyright, designs and patent act, 1988- this act is currently applicable in UK for protection of rights of creator on its work and private symbols (Copyright, Designs and Patents act 1988, 2019). This act provides the creator of dramatic, literacy, artistic, musical and other related work a right and effective regulation and control over the ways in which its material and creation is used or may be used in future. The copyright, designs and patent act, 1988 also covers a Broadcast and public performance, adapting, coping, issuing, lending and renting copies to public and also provide a right to creator to identify as a author and to object and file legal suit against the distortion of their work. Thus, the Copyright, designs and patent act, 1988, implemented in UK provide a legal right to Next retail plc to stop the applicant i.e. YS Garments LLC from making use of pre owned word,“Next Level.”Get assignment help to score better!

Trademarks Act, 1994- This law of UK include and covers the registration of trade mark and protection of registered trademarks from unauthorised use in UK (Trade Mark Act 1944, 2019). A trade mark is basically a way through which a party or organisation differentiate and distinguish themselves and itself from another organisation. A trademark can be a word, name, logo, phrase, symbol, image, sound, shape, signature or any other combination. This trademark act of UK ensures a exclusive right of owner of a symbol or mark over use of its symbol on its gods and services thus, helps consumer in identifying its product ans service and provide a distinct image. Trademarks promote initiative and enterprise among organisation at worldwide level by rewarding their owners with recognition and financial profit. Trademark protection also hinders the efforts of unfair competitors, such as counterfeiters, to use similar distinctive signs to market inferior or different products or services. Thus, this system created by trademark act 1994, enables people and firms with skill and talents to produce and market goods and services in mast fairest way without any threat of unauthorised use of any trademark. Trademark protection act is legally enforced by courts and legal systems of UK and also has provided the authority to stop trademark infringement. Thus, use of this act can be made by Next retail plc to stop YS Garments LLC from use of its trademark word,“Next Level.”

Thus, from above discussion a overall conclusion an be made that YS Garments LLC is not authorised for making use of word “Next Level” as it is legal intellectual rights for this trademark are belonging to Next retail plc.

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