Absolute Seminar: Cheeky comparisons and rude trademarks

Last week, we were joined by the founder of IP specialist law firm Virtuoso Legal, Elizabeth Ward, to host our first Absolute Seminar in our recently expanded studio space. Marketers from North West businesses joined us for the breakfast seminar to hear all about marketing, branding and IP law – and what they can do to protect themselves and avoid legal pitfalls.

As well as covering the basics around trademarks and copyrights, the seminar was quite an eye opener in terms of what you can and can’t do when it comes to protecting your brand and ideas. For example, you probably know you can register your company name and logo, but did you know you can also register a smell? And when it comes to registering names that could be considered rude or offensive, there are some surprising examples of names that have and haven’t been approved (and they’re a bit too shocking for us to repeat here!).

As an integrated creative agency, one of the points covered that was of particular interest was around parody and comparisons in advertising. There are some great examples of businesses – in particular, supermarkets – who have used their competitors’ prices, product and/or services to help sell their own. And while this can be a really effective way of getting your key messages out there and making your target audience take note, you need to be aware of the rules to make sure you’re marketing yourself in such a way that is both fair and legal.

If you’re interested to hear what Elizabeth Ward has to say about marketing, branding and IP law, you can watch a video of the seminar here:

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