Welcome to the November issue of Licensing4Profits. 

If you're a chef or restaurant owner, you have more IP than meets the eye. It includes the distinctive look of your restaurant, techniques and recipes. In this month's featured article, Your Restaurant IP is More Than Just a Brand, you'll learn about the different parts of restaurant IP and why today's owners and chefs are getting serious about protecting those assets. 

 

One of the biggest obstacles to making money with intellectual property is the way you think about it. In our newest e-course, The Licensing Mindset: How to Think Like an IP Entrepreneur, you'll learn about thinking outside the "tangible asset" box and why the most successful businesses are created with a licensing model.

In today's global market, tax and currency issues are an important part of licensing agreements. In our next article, Key Terms & Conditions, you'll learn what the tax and currency issues are and how to address them in your licensing agreements.

Find out what barbed wire, baking soda, and a movie classic have in common in This Month in IP History.

We conclude with this month's question "If I get a license and then decide to sell my business, will I be able to sell the license as well?"

Enjoy!

 

If you are a chef or restaurant owner, you have more IP than meets the eye. It includes the the distinctive look of your restaurant, techniques and recipes.   

 

All your design decisions that create the look and feel - paint scheme, furniture, etc - of your restaurant are the trade dress (which depending on your restaurant can be millions of dollars). Store designs, blueprints, carpeting patterns, textiles, tapestries and other visual designs are your copyright IP. Your recipes (which can also be copyrights), supplier and ingredient lists, training and restaurant operations manuals are your trade secrets.

  

In recent years, chefs and restauranteurs have started getting serious about protecting their IP assets: 

• In Boston, a restaurant owner sued a new restaurant for copying the look and feel of it's oyster bar, even down to the placement of the oyster crackers.
• There was a recent case of an Australian chef whose cuisine was winning awards Down Under until it was discovered he was copying the dishes, right down to the details of presentation, from American restaurants.
• A much-touted South Beach Thai restaurant sued its former celebrity chef, accusing him of stealing its recipes, employees, customers and even publicity photos when he quit to return to his family-owned restaurant.
• A Texas pizzeria franchise chain sued a former employee, as well as several individual restaurant owners, for conspiring to misappropriate trade secrets for the purposes of creating a competing business.

Here are four important steps to make sure your IP rights are protected.

1. Create an inventory of your IP assets so you know what you have (click here to get the free special report, How to Find and Inventory your IP Assets).
2. Get non-disclosure and non-compete agreements in place with your key employees, such as chefs and managers, to prevent the loss of your trade secrets.
3. Make sure to register your restaurant name (brand) and store design (trade dress).
4. Copyright all your menus, advertising and promotional materials.

Your restaurant IP includes not only your brand, but trademarks, trade dress and copyrights. Together they create your core IP assets that drive your revenue and are a large part of your investors' profits. It's what creates your customer loyalty, and builds your brand recognition. It's a strategic asset that you can use to increase your restaurant business by expanding into new markets and product categories through licensing.

Feel free to pass this newsletter along to friends and associates. You can visit our websites (www.licensing4profits.com and www.licensingcg.com) to view our blog, special reports, published articles, webinars and audio presentations.

If you are interested in learning about our consulting services, please contact us at (646) 395-9572 or email info@licensingcg.com.  

 

Best regards,

 

President & CEO 

       

In This Issue

You'll hear how Mrs. Fields, Bill Gates, Dale Carnegie, Google, and others turned their intellectual property into business fortunes. You'll find out about new ways to transform your IP into licensing deals, and why every IP owner making money with their IP helps others to do the same.

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Don't overlook tax and currency issues in your international licensing agreements. This clause defines the amount of royalties you actually receive and protects you from potential tax liabilities.

For royalty payments, you'll want to make sure the agreement specifies the currency to be used, which is usually your home currency. That makes it easier to track royalty payments and it avoids conversion charges.

 

Some of the key tax issues detailed in this clause include tax withholding requirements, the recovery of value-added taxes or the applicability of certain sales or excise taxes. For example, the agreement could specify that all taxes will be deducted from the royalty payment. In this situation, the clause should also require proof that the tax payments were made so you don't get stuck with the tax liability.

 

International tax issues can be complex. Consult with an international tax expert to advise you on the tax issues before negotiating the licensing agreement. 

 

When preparing or reviewing a licensing agreement, it's always best to seek qualified legal advice before you sign anything. 

1874 Patent #157,124 was granted to Joseph Glidden for barbed wire fencing.

1905 ARM & HAMMER baking soda was trademark registered.

1956 Cecile B Demille's "The Ten Commandments" was copyright registered.

 

Source:About.com