A seminar in Brisbane today will provide small and medium sized businesses with advice from the experts on how they can protect their valuable brands by using Australia’s trade mark system.
Parliamentary Secretary for Innovation and Industry, Richard Marles, said Australian businesses often overlooked brand protection as a crucial component of their intellectual property (IP).
“Not only is it important for a business to create a strong brand and business reputation, they should safeguard these assets with a registered trade mark,” Mr Marles said.
Mr Marles said the breakfast seminar will talk about the need for businesses of all sizes to protect their brand.
“In 2009, the Sensis Small Business Index showed 31 per cent of small businesses were not aware of the IP in their business.
“This figure shows an alarmingly significant portion of Australian small businesses aren’t using the trade mark system strategically,” Mr Marles said.
Today’s seminar will be headlined by Allied Brands chief executive, Shane Radbone, who manages well-known brands Baskin and Robbins and Cookie Man.
Mr Radbone has broad knowledge in branding and IP having established his first business at the age of 20. He now manages numerous brands that are highly visible in shopping malls in Australia and internationally.
“IP protection is vital to Allied Brands’ business and expansion plans. For example, we had a very significant trade mark registration program in China and India before entering those markets which enabled us to actively defend our brands when needed,” Mr Radbone said.
The seminar being held at the Novotel Brisbane will show SMEs how to:
• create a distinctive brand personality
• utilise domain names to enhance a brand
• apply real-life strategies to help expand a brand into overseas markets and
• identify key ownership considerations for brand managers and strategies to deal with direct competitors.
For more information on the ‘How to make your brand great’ breakfast seminars held during March around Australia visit the IP Australia website www.ipaustralia.gov.au.
IP Australia is the Federal Government agency responsible for granting intellectual property protection through patents, trade marks, designs and plant breeder’s rights.
