Discovering the Intersection of Branding and IP Across Borders

When I set up Azrights in 2005, I’d just experienced the IP needs of large international businesses. I didn't know much about small businesses.

I soon realised SMEs didn't know how to use IP and brand protection when designing their businesses. Nor were designers and marketers considering brand protection when designing brands. 

This surprised me. When you turn ideas into a business, product, or service, you're developing intellectual property. IP is the biggest money maker. So, it’s essential to understand how to best use it to protect a concept.

Equally important is to understand how IP impacts branding decisions. Like that, you can take account of brand protection as an intrinsic aspect of your choices.

Yet if IP is considered at all during branding, it is just to check availability of a name. But even that doesn’t always happen.

It was puzzling to me why brand creation was so separate from brand protection. It just didn’t make sense.

So, I decided to write a book about branding and IP.

I wanted to better understand branding so I could explain how and when IP should be considered.

Branding was a surprisingly difficult subject to fathom. There is much information about it in books and podcasts that is just wrong. I wrote an entire manuscript before discovering this. 

That’s why I decided to start the Brand Tuned podcast in May 2020. 

I wanted to interview business owners, and industry professionals to get a better sense of what branding involves. A podcast is a great excuse to speak to people. 

I was still learning about branding even after my book was published in 2021. So, I continued the podcast.  But by the end of 2022 I felt the podcast had outlived its purpose. So, I stopped recording episodes. 

I’ve now got a new purpose for the podcast. What truly excites me is to find out how brands are designed in other countries, and how they deal with IP. 

I often say IP principles are universal the world over. They’re part and parcel of business design. Short of doing a PHD in the subject I can’t prove this. But with the podcast I may just be able to establish whether my assertions are correct.

If so, there’s a case for universities to start teaching IP principles instead of perceiving IP as a purely legal subject for the lawyers. I suspect that’s the reason brand protection isn’t taught on MBA and other courses.

Moving forward I’ll be inviting podcast guests from across the globe to discuss branding and IP with me. 

I’m planning on relaunching the podcast in May, to coincide with the anniversary of its start date. So, look out for the release of 3 episodes on 6th May that I’ve recorded with business owners to understand their branding journey. 

Although the way small businesses create their brands is a topic that also interests me, future episodes will focus on branding in other countries. 

I’m keen to interview people from Civil law countries like France and Spain next. If you can suggest someone who would be a suitable guest, please let me know.