The importance of the interaction between Marketing and Intellectual Property for companies
Companies depend on the sale of their products and services. However, it is not enough to simply innovate, invest millions in Marketing, and introduce their product to the market. It is essential to ensure in advance that intellectual property rights are adequately protected and that there is no violation of third-party rights.
There are measures and procedures that can be adopted from the creation stage of each advertising campaign to ensure that the rights arising from a particular creation are respected and that there is no infringement of third-party intellectual property rights.
A survey conducted by a leading multinational risk management and consulting company revealed that one of the most significant risks for companies today is disregard for intellectual property. About a third of intellectual property rights holders have discovered the unauthorized use of their brands, and nearly half of respondents indicated that intellectual property abuse is likely to increase over the next five years.
In addition, 24% of trademark holders and 33% of copyright holders do not have any intellectual property security policy in their companies. Only 17% of these companies conducted a formal assessment of the vulnerability of their intellectual property.
Given this scenario, a strategic question arises: How to avoid piracy and the risk of losing significant investments by not checking in advance if third-party intellectual property rights are being violated and their own are properly protected?
I believe that the solution is a greater collaboration between the Marketing and Intellectual Property departments of companies. This simple measure would not only prevent possible violations of third-party rights but would also prevent many products from being launched in expensive advertising campaigns without due legal protection.
In this context, it is necessary to question the need for a transformation process in companies of the new millennium, which could be called "organizational integration". Undoubtedly, the collaboration between the Marketing and Intellectual Property departments before the launch of products or brands would avoid wasting large sums of money due to a lack of research to identify potential intellectual property protection issues.
Entrepreneurs, often due to ignorance of the laws, end up propagating the illicit by placing on-the-market products that reproduce the creation of third parties, harming the legitimate holders of violated rights. The strategy of always relying on the guidance of Intellectual Property experts protects companies against possible problems and promotes the adoption of preventive practices in managing their needs, which directly reflects in cost savings. To adapt to the new realities of a world in constant transformation and innovation, organizations need to be adaptive and innovative, fully interacting with the outside world and with their departments. Pursuing this model of organization implies introducing new paradigms in business management, such as creating a highly integrative and participatory communication process in inter-departmental relations.
