A color trademark is a non-conventional trademark where at least one color is used to identify the brand. To qualify as a trademark, the color must be distinctive or have established a secondary meaning (to the consumer).

Many brands have sets of colors trademarked for protection against other brands in the same market. For instance, Coca-Cola has its iconic red and white scheme protected. Lots of others have single shades of color trademarked, such as Microsoft blue.

These brands try to associate themselves with their color at a fundamental level. To achieve that sort of recognition, brands have to peg their signature color to nearly everything - marketing, packaging, uniforms, store decor and more.

How strong are colors when it comes to brand recognition? See if you can recognize these brands by their color.  

 Click on the color to get the answer.

We'll take a look at the other types of non - conventional trademarks in future issues of Licensing4Profits.

You carry insurance for your house, car and business. What about your intellectual property?

In the business world, it's not uncommon to hear the story about the big guy who is simply too big and the little guy who isn't prepared or financially able to fight back. And this is the case when large companies infringe upon the intellectual property rights of smaller competitors.

According to a cost study conducted by the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the average litigation costs for a patent infringement suit ranges between $767,000 and $2,645,000.

Intellectual property insurance has been around for about 20 years, but its existence is relatively unknown. With the increasing pace of innovation  and litigation, intellectual property insurance is now available to IP owners and businesses of all sizes. IP insurance helps fund litigation risks by ensuring that there are funds available to pay the associated legal expenses.

IP insurance is available for both the enforcement and defense of IP rights. Intellectual Property defense coverage is pretty much what it sounds like - it will pay the costs to defend you and also can provide coverage for damages if someone tries to claim the rights to the same IP (or business model, process, or application). IP enforcement coverage basically funds legal expenses to enforce your patent, copyright, or trademark. In addition to obtaining IP insurance directly, IP owners can also require in the Licensing Agreement that the Licensee (i.e. indemnifying party) have an intellectual property insurance policy.

If you are a start up or small business, IP insurance may be one of your best competitive strategies. If your company is targeted by a larger company looking to back you into a corner, you may not have the resources to fight back, and your IP rights could be in jeopardy. Intellectual property insurance might be a good option to give you the legal muscle to keep your IP rights intact. 

• 1879 Auguste Bartholdi was granted a design patent for the Statue of Liberty.
• 1917 SUNMAID raisins were trademark registered.
• 1943 The song "As Time Goes By" from the movie Casablanca was copyrighted.  

• How to negotiate the key terms of a licensing deal 
• The pros and cons of using someone else to negotiate on your behalf
• Four real-world strategies that you can use to negotiate a winning licensing deal   

This webinar will feature a guest presenter, Mr. Andrew Berger, an intellectual property attorney with the New York firm of Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP.  

Ask Rand Brenner 

Q: How do I make sure that the company I licensed will pay the royalties?

A: License agreements include reporting requirements, meaning the licensee provides the licensor with sales reports and royalties earned. These are usually submitted on a quarterly basis, but can also be provided more or less frequently such as bi-annually.    

Reporting clauses in contracts also have what's called audit rights, that allow the licensor to check the licensee's books to verify the royalty reports they submitted were correct. These audits are usually handled by an accounting firm hired by the IP owner. The royalty reporting and audit provides control for the IP owner to make sure the licensee is reporting and paying the royalties.

Got a question about licensing? Send an email to askrandbrenner@ licensing4profits.com.  You'll get an answer to your question which will be included in a future issue of this newsletter.