A successful marketing strategy will convert trademark rights into brand recognition and loyalty, but it needs to move with the times. External economic, political and social forces, and even sporting events, can impact on IP and the way that it needs to be managed and protected.

IP Rights underpin a company’s investment in its products, processes, marketing ploys and its relationship with its customers. But, it’s a two-way process. The tangible world also has a very real effect on the intangible realm of IP.

Over the past 20 years, economic, political, legal, climatic and even sporting events have all impacted on national and international levels of applications and registrations. Of course, some of thiscan be easily related to policy changes; for example, the emergence of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). This harmonised trademark laws across a significant proportion of the major  trademark filers, resulting in a boom of applications between 1994 and 1996. Similarly, the emergence of the EU’s Community Trademark (CTM) has led to a marked decrease in the number of national applications, as trademark owners opt to register the cheaper, but potentially riskier, method of enforcing protection across the entire EU.

In other cases, the changes coincide with economic movement; for example, the dotcom boom of 1997 to 2000 led to a sharp increase in the number of trademark applications relating to Internet businesses. It did not lead to a significant upturn in registrations, however, as many of the dotcom filers did not survive to registration and even those that did often found themselves fighting against arguments of lack of distinctive character.

Unsurprisingly, during times of economic prosperity, there is also an associate rise in more speculative marks. As was the case with the dotcom boom, flourishing economies result in the establishment of riskier businesses that may not survive to see their trademark applications mature to registration. Companies are also more willing to dedicate the necessary fees for the registration of trademarks that are ‘niceto- haves’, rather than ‘must-haves’.

During periods of economic uncertainty, on the other hand, applications tend to focus on essential coverage only, for rights that are of particular importance for a company or that have strong chances of registration. In this environment, speculative marks are rare.

Trademark registrations drop even further at times of political uncertainty. If you look at global trademark figures in 2001, you will see a 20-25% dip in applications that coincides with the 9/11 terrorist attack.

Indeed, while trademark applications and registrations across the world have been steadily rising over the past 20 years, this trend is not always true for every jurisdiction. The top filing jurisdictions have varied over time, as their own political and economic fluctuations have resulted in periods of activity and lethargy.

For example, France, once a world leader in trademark filing, has slipped out of the top 10, with China and South Korea moving steadily up the rankings. Part of this has come as a result of the increasing popularity of the CTM, but it also speaks volumes about the economic powerhouses emerging in Asia. China’s growth has been staggering in the last decade, as the regime has opened to external trade.

Plotting the past
Monitored in this way, trademark applications and registrations provide a fossil record of commercial activity and the past economic and political climate. They also provide an index to mind share; the effect of world events, policy changes and business success can all be seen through peaks and dips in the number and types of applications and registrations. But can knowing what has happened in the past help you to plot a future for your trademark strategy?

Actually, it can. Just as the study of patent applications (patent analysis) can help companies to paint an accurate picture of the patent landscape and, therefore, track the competitive environment and an industry’s  innovation hotbeds; so too can studying trademark trends identify emerging consumer habits, likely industry reactions to socio-political events and the future IP strategy of your industry.

Monitoring changes in trademark league tables for filing and registration doesn't just help to indicate industry trends, it also reveals just how much culture and society affects business and law.

Just look at the current rise in UK supermarkets of own-label ‘super brands’. Those big businesses who used to own the supermarket’s floor space (for example, Unilever or P&G) are being pushed out by the supermarket’s own branded products, as they not only mould and protect their own variations of classic English staples, but also position them at a better vantage point on their own shelves. Why buy Heinz baked beans when you can buy Sainsbury’s baked beans at half the price? they ask.

Own-labelling has resulted in an explosion in trademark registration in the retail sector in the UK. Ten years ago brand powerhouses monopolised trademark registrations in these areas; in fact, there wasn’t a single  supermarket in Britain’s list of its top 25 trademark filers. Today, the UK-IPO table reveals a very different story: the supermarket ASDA has undergone an astronomical rise to sixth position, with Marks & Spencer at seventh, followed closely by Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Lidl and Aldi. The ownlabelling revolution has created a range of sub-brands, such as Tesco Finest, Simply Food and Taste the Difference, which are now seen as rivals to grocery sector power brands.

And that isn’t just reflected on the trademark league table. It’s a view supported by business analysts, who rank the UK as Europe’s biggest market for retailers’ own labels, accounting for some 40% of total grocery volumes and estimated at £30bn. And, not only are consumers finding these brands increasingly preferable, they are also topping the brand awareness charts, with almost 60% of people able to recognise own-label premium brands independently of the supermarkets to which they belonged.

Little wonder then that the USPTO reports that the average Westerner encounters 1,500 trademarks on an average day, but 30,000 if he or she visits a supermarket.

Looking to the future
Monitoring changes in trademark league tables for filing and registration doesn’t just help to indicate industry trends – it also reveals just how much culture and society affects business and law.

Just think of the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing and London. Both have led to a distinct upsurge in the number and types of trademark registrations in the host nations. Working to ensure their presence in the territory to coincide with the fruitful television coverage, companies started planning their IP strategies and registrations years in advance of the actual event. In China, this has led to an explosion in trademark applications in the last 10 years, as many Western companies bank on success in the region, despite the country’s negative reputation for IP enforcement.

China’s emergence as an economic – and manufacturing – powerhouse has also had considerable effect on industry in the EC territories, as the regions’ trademark records reveal. Globalisation has meant that it’s essential for businesses and nations to be able to compete on an even playing field – or to switch to more successful business models and industry sectors in the face of ever-increasing competition from the Far East.

In light of the territory’s dominance in the manufacturing sector, many European countries are increasingly relying on innovation and the service industries to provide the backbone of their national economies, which in turn increases the importance of IP in the territory.

In the UK, for example, the number of ‘goods’ marks registered in the country has fallen considerably since 2003, while service marks have continued to rise. Indeed, 40-60% of trademarks applied for since 2003 have been for service-related brands – and for the first time in 2006, the top five classes of services overtook the top five classes of goods in terms of both applications and registrations.

Of course, the consumer isn’t necessarily aware that the branded products or services that he or she selects from the supermarket shelf or witnesses on TV are supported by an entire industry of IP professionals, managing the registration, protection and prosecution of these IP Rights behind the scenes. And some would say they don’t need to. Nonetheless, trademark records represent an unusual, but fascinating, insight into political and economic trends around the world. Not only do they highlight brand leaders by industry, they also reveal national social and socioeconomic trends – revealing everything from UK consumers’ preferences for coffee shops and own-label brands to Asia’s growing dominance in the manufacturing industry.


Key events on the world’s trademark map

1990 National applications in Germany peak, reflecting the buoyancy in the market and raised economic hopes during the country’s reunification process

1992 National applications in Japan hit an all-time high after the country re-aligned its classification system with the Nice Agreement. Application numbers had decreased rapidly by 1993, marking the country’s fall into recession

1997 The number of trademark applications decreased in South Korea as a result of deteriorating relations with North Korea and the threat of impending military action

1999 The UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) reports a sharp increase in service-related marks, following the launch of online banking and financial services, such as First Direct, Capital One and Egg

2002 Trademark applications dip in the UK, coinciding with the public fear and antipathy surrounding the country’s involvement in the Iraq War

2003 Trademark applications in China dip for the first time in 10 years, following massive flooding and the outbreak of SARS in the territory.

For more information, email jppryor@cpaglobal.com.


This article first appeared in IP Review, issue 21

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