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3. Search existing patents
4. Study search results
5. Complete patent application
6. File the patent application
In addition, the inventor must be prepared to defend a patent against “copycat producers”.
This can be expensive and time consuming but often is necessary to protect an
entrepreneur’s interest.
Trademark. A trademark is any distinctive word, phrase, symbol, design, name, logo,
slogan, or trade dress that a company uses to identify the origin of a product or to
distinguish it from other goods on the market. A service mark offers the same protection
as a trademark, except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather
than a product. Refer to Figure 3.5, Trademark Applications and Trademarks and
Renewals Issued.
Trade dress is the unique combination of elements that a company uses to create a
product’s image and to promote it. For example, a restaurant’s particular décor, color
schemes, design and overall look and feel constitute its trade dress. To be eligible for
trademark protection, trade dress must be inherently unique and distinctive to a company.
A trademark prevents other companies from employing a similar mark to identify their
literature, software, music, videos, video games, choreography, motion pictures,
recordings and others). Just as with a trademark, obtaining basic copyright protection does
not require registering the creative work, but it is smart to do so. Entrepreneurs file
Can the opponent afford to pay if you win?
Will you get enough from the suit to cover the costs of hiring an attorney?
Can you afford the loss of time and privacy from the ensuing lawsuit?
Refer to the “Hands On… How To” feature for more information on protecting your
company’s intellectual property.
Consider using You Be the Consultant: “How Would You Rule in These Intellectual
Property Cases?” at this point.
Conclusion
The creative process is a tenant of the entrepreneurial experience. Success, and even
survival itself, requires entrepreneurs to tap their creativity. The seven steps of the creative
should protect their creative ideas through patents, trademarks, servicemarks, and
copyrights to sustain a competitive edge.
Part 3: Chapter Exercises
You Be the Consultant: “10 Keys to Business
Innovation”
1. Select one of these businesses and explain which of the 10 types of innovation the
company used to bolster its success. (LO 4) (AACSB: Application of knowledge)
apart from their competition by providing unparalleled customer service.
(Suggestions: Roadie, Lee Company)
Channel. How do you get your products or services into customers’ hands? Some
companies provide extra value to their customers by making their products and
services available in many venues. (Suggestions: Roadie)
Brand. What is your company’s “identity” in the marketplace? Successful
companies use creative advertising, promotion, and marketing techniques to build
a desirable brand identity with customers. (Suggestions: Monsieur)
Customer experience. Does your company engage customers and give them
reasons to come back to make future purchases? Innovative companies find ways
to connect with their customers, creating a loyal base of “fansumers,” customers
who not only purchase but act like fans who promote the company to their friends
and family members. (Suggestions: Roadie, Monsieur)
2. Explain how the company you selected in question 1 could use at least one of the
remaining types of innovation to increase its sales and profitability. (LO 4)
(AACSB: Application of knowledge)
Hands On … How To: “Create a Culture of Creativity
and Innovation”
1. Do you agree with the top managers in the MDC Partners survey who say that we
have entered an “imagination economy”? Explain. (LO 5) (AACSB: Application of
2. List and describe two additional steps that a company can take to create a culture
of creativity and innovation. (LO 5) (AACSB: Application of knowledge)
their working time on no questions asked projects – may be an additional step. The story
is the company’s famous Post It notes came out of such an initiative. The second step can
be to encourage collaboration with outside firms, whether they are suppliers or customers.
This could spur creative ideas to flow from outside the firm.
You Be the Consultant: “How Would You Rule in
These Intellectual Property Cases?”
1. What does a trademark protect? What does a patent protect? What is a design
patent? (LO 8) (AACSB: Reflective thinking)
2. Assume the role of a judge in these two cases. How would you rule? Explain
your reasoning. (In the Lululemon Athletica v. Calvin Klein case, you may want to
search online for images of the two companies’ yoga pants and apply the ordinary
observer test before making your decision.) (LO 8) (AACSB: Application of
knowledge)
as it transformed the sole of a shoe into a work of art. YSL claimed that prohibiting
others from using the color red, stating that if CL could claim a monopoly on the use of
red on a part of the shoe would have an unprecedented, anti-competitive effect.
Students’ responses will likely support both CL and YSL points of view. Instructors
should keep the focus on the legal issues of Trade dress, which is the unique combination
of elements that a company uses to create a product’s image and to promote it. For
example, a restaurant’s particular décor, color schemes, design and overall look and feel
constitute its trade dress. To be eligible for trademark protection, trade dress must be
inherently unique and distinctive to a company.
A trademark prevents other companies from employing a similar mark to identify their
goods. The first party who either uses a trademark in commerce or files an application
with the PTO has the ultimate right to register that trademark. Trademarks last
indefinitely as long as the holder continues to use it.
Case Summary: In the Lululemon Athlectica (LA) v. Calvin Klein (CK) case, LA owned
three design patents on their yoga pants, including a distinctive waistband, which sells for
$98. LA claimed that CK’s “Performance” yoga pants (priced at $20) are significantly
similar to their patented Astro pants waistband. Owners of a design patent must prove
that to the average observer the alleged infringer’s (CK) design appears to be substantially
the same as its own design. This is known as the “ordinary observer test.”
Here are links for more information:
3. Use a search engine to research the outcomes of these two cases. How were the
