Intellectual property protection: trademarks and trade secrets in the global economy

Trademarks are one of the key areas of intellectual property that a firm will want to protect. A trademark is defined as a "word, phrase, symbol and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others" (USPTO, 2014). Thus, the trademark is often a company's brand or the symbol associated with the brand. For example, the company name Nike is a trademark and the swoosh symbol is also a trademark, as both specifically identify the Nike company brand.

Trademarks are protected on the basis of each individual country, and the protections afforded by each country can vary significantly. In many parts of the world, trademark protections are minimal. The result is that goods are routinely knocked off. The trademark being synonymous with the brand, inferior goods bearing your company's trademark will surely devalue the brand - the caveat being that the consumer almost surely knows that a $20 Louis Vuitton handbag or Rolex watch is not the real thing. This does not result in diminishment of the brand, but in most places is still very much illegal. In general, a company needs to file for trademark protection in every country, and then in most cases will need to renew that protection. Sometimes renewal comes by virtue of being in continual business. The principle behind renewal is that a trademark can expire at such time as the business has gone out of business and that mark is no longer associated with any ongoing enterprise.

Trademark protection is critical for branding. The point of branding is to distinguish your company from your competitors, so if two competitors have similar names and trademarks, there could be confusion within the marketplace, and that confusion could be damaging to one or both parties. The trademark office typically has enforcement powers to compel one company to discontinue using branding that infringes on the established trademark of another company.

Part II. A trade secret is defined by the World Intellectual Property Organization as "any confidential business information which provides an enterprise a competitive edge" (WIPO, 2014). This definition is purposefully vague, because trade secrets almost never have any intellectual property protection. WIPO argues that "unauthorized use of such information by persons other than the holder is regarded as unfair practice and a violation of the trade secret." In other words, boo hoo. There is nothing expressly illegal about using trade secrets, as they are not technically considered to be intellectual property. They are protected "without any procedural formalities," thus there are no legal remedies for breach of trade secrets.