2020 was a challenging year for economies around the world. There was massive social dislocation. Businesses were forced to switch to online platforms to communicate and maintain operations. Online retail replaced in-store shopping for vast numbers of consumers. Entire sectors – travel, hospitality, healthcare – saw enormous changes in demand overnight. However, at times even the deepest challenges can unearth some opportunity: by the end of 2020 trademark filing activity had reached record high levels around the globe.

Industry disruption leads to new challenges

Based on interviews with 300 trademark professionals in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Mainland China, the Trademark Ecosystem Report 2021 identifies a range of common challenges as trademark activity increases:

• Involvement from the executive C-suite in brand strategy and decisions is crucial in a world of accelerated change and globalization. A significant number of respondents stated that lack of leadership engagement had resulted in important revenue opportunities missed.
• Nearly 90% of brands surveyed experienced trademark infringement – the highest level since our survey began in 2017.
• Trademark infringement frequently involves social media and web domains.
• Budgets and resources are not keeping up with increased trademark filing volume and trademark infringement, and the pressure to “do more with less” is higher than ever.

Technology offers solutions

Our report also looks at potential solutions. The switch to online retail and remote working in 2020 was made possible by technology that reached maturity and scale at exactly the right time.

Technology also has the potential to enable trademark professionals to overcome resource and budget constraints by improving efficiency and making manual tasks less onerous, including:

• Artificial Intelligence to make trademark searching and watching easier
• Predictive analytics to improve decision making
• Improved speed and accuracy when locating relevant evidence or assessing complex marks

At Clarivate, we are on a bold mission to make IP intelligence more accessible, more flexible and more actionable – providing the clarity our customers need to create, protect and advance innovation. As part of this mission, we seek to hear directly from customers through many channels, including the survey that informs our Trademark Ecosystem Report. Take a look.

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What kind of shifts are we seeing in the trademark industry? Despite the severe hit to the global economy inflicted by the pandemic in 2020, the volume of new trademark filings rose, indicative of the global economy’s remarkable resilience.

To gain deeper insights into trademark professionals’ practices, experiences and attitudes, Clarivate sought the views of 300 trademark professionals, both in-house and external counsel, across seven countries/regions for the 2021 Trademark Ecosystem Report.

Key findings include:

• United States unprecedented volume: The fastest growing trademark register in the world in 2020 was the United States, filing volume increased by an unprecedented 35% over 2019.
• Trademark infringement continues to rise: 89% of respondents reported trademark infringement, up from 85% in 2019, 81% in 2018 and 74% in 2017.
• When the C-suite doesn’t pay attention, opportunities are missed: 89% of respondents report opportunities missed due to lack of C-suite engagement.
• Social media names take center stage: 50% of respondents report that social media names are where many infringements occur.

To read our new report and get the full story, please complete the form.

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Understanding Brexit impacts to trademarks within the EUIPO and UKIPO

• Registered trademarks: Now that the transition period has expired, European Union Trade Marks (EUTMs) will no longer protect trademarks in the United Kingdom. Instead, the Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (UKIPO) will create “cloned” local copies of registered EUTMs, International Registrations designating the E.U., and Registered Community Designs onto the corresponding UKIPO registers. This cloning process is limited to trademarks registered prior to January 1, 2021.
• Pending applications: For pending applications, trademark owners will have nine months – until September 30, 2021 – to apply to register trademarks with the UKIPO and retain the earlier filing date of the pending EUTM. After this period ends, trademark applications will need to be filed separately with both the EUIPO and UKIPO to ensure protection in both jurisdictions.

Continuous coverage

CompuMark trademark research and protection from Clarivate empowers trademark professionals worldwide to create, expand and protect strong brands. During this time of transition, we are committed to helping our customers act with confidence regarding their trademarks in both the United Kingdom and the European Union.

CompuMark products with United Kingdom registers, including European Union packages, will maintain their existing coverage until the below dates:

• At least until October 2021 for SAEGIS^®, TM go365 and Full Searches
• December 31, 2021 for Watch

By March 20, 2021, we expect to have all cloned copies of registered EUTMs from 2020 added to the United Kingdom register, complete with the error corrections and enhancements that our clients rely on Clarivate to provide. We will continue to update the United Kingdom register as cloned marks are renewed and when owners opt out of the cloning process. EUTM applications that were pending on December 31, 2020 and subsequently re-filed at the UKIPO are already in our records.

We will update this page as new information becomes available, so please check back often.

If you have any questions on your United Kingdom or European Union trademark Searches or Watches, contact us today.

Please note: This update is provided for information purposes only and is not legal advice. Your interpretations, conclusions, decisions or other actions are your own for which you have full responsibility.

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A recent report from McKinsey & Company uses Clarivate data to explore Asia’s impressive technological transformation over the past decade according to a number of measures, including IP creation and strength.

McKinsey used Innography from CPA Global, part of Clarivate, to delve into the IP data to uncover 10 technologies where Asia holds a higher than average share of ‘globally impactful’ patents – four of which also attract a higher than average level of start-up investment: mobile services, AI, Internet of Things and manufacturing equipment. It found that from 2016 to 2018 Asia represented 87% of global patent growth, with Mainland China alone accounting for 45% of the world’s patents during this period.

This IP analysis reveals Asia’s increasingly strong position in high-growth technologies, but as we found in our 2020 report there are further signals that innovation and IP in Asia is swiftly maturing.

A new IP strategy in Mainland China

While Mainland China is dominant across all IP metrics, a closer look reveals a change in tack. For years Chinese patent volumes increased exponentially, spurred on by a coordinated industrial and IP strategy. In 2019 however, Chinese patent applications fell by 9.2% – the first decline in 24 years.

This watershed moment was no accident. It reflected a purposeful shift away from leading on patent quantity towards leading on quality. Mainland China’s flight to quality (and growing international influence[1]) is also evidenced in the growing percentage taken up by invention patents versus utility model patents, increase in international patents and perhaps above all, in the country’s rising share of Highly Cited Researchers, with Chinese fundamental research now frequently referenced in Western studies.

The prominence of Mainland China’s intellectual capital is indicative of a change in strategy. Whereas previously the government focused funding to facilitate research and large volumes of patent filing activity (resulting in widespread IP awareness), incentives are now more closely aligned with patents that have the potential to have a commercial and global applicability.

This watershed moment was no accident. It reflected a purposeful shift away from leading on patent quantity towards leading on quality.

To a large extent, this has caused the Chinese economic landscape to split into a three-tier pyramid. The few at the top are those which are already leveraging IP assets and have a globalized business model. Those in the middle are dynamically approaching IP creation and seeking to internationalize – it is these who are most likely to benefit from state funding for innovation. And those at the bottom, for whom IP is less of a strategic imperative, are those that have little or no international strategy and focus only on the domestic Mainland Chinese market.

In addition to this, the world’s second largest economy is also increasingly becoming a major venue for IP enforcement and litigation (including for international patent holders), a further sign the country is reaching maturity as an IP jurisdiction.

Beyond Mainland China

While Mainland China’s scale and rate of development makes it a focal point, it’s crucial to consider the size and diversity of innovation across Asia to paint the full picture. IP trends in advanced Asia-Pacific economies such as Japan, South Korea and Australia are more similar to those of Western countries, with high levels of innovation but slower growth. Companies in these countries perform strongly across the full spectrum of IP rights, greatly contributing to the continent’s clout in terms of brands as well as technologies.

While Mainland China remains a dominant force in key sectors, this heterogeneity across Asia means there is far more to come from the continent.

Further innovation is expected out of Southeast Asia, with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations counting a 13% compound annual growth rate in patent applications from 2010 to 2019 and forecast to be the world’s fourth largest economy by 2030. In the long-term, South Asia is also likely to emerge as a powerful (and as yet largely untapped) source of innovation. Learn more about this developing innovation center by reading the Clarivate South and South East Asia Innovation report.

Global IP production is spearheaded by Asia, but these IP trends indicate an underlying reality. As Asian economies continue to lead the way in generating new IP assets, Mainland China is repositioning on the world stage and helping to transform perceptions of the continent from being a manufacturing center into a credible and world-leading innovation hub.

Learn more by reading the Clarivate IP Asia 2020 Special Report.

[1] https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_941_2017.pdf

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The holiday season this year promises to be like few before. No Christmas markets, no jostling with fellow shoppers, perhaps no gathering together with friends or family – but despite these changes (or maybe because of them), many will still indulge in a tipple or two.

The alcoholic beverage industry, like many other industries, has adapted to the continuing economic uncertainty caused by the global pandemic. In our latest report, Distilling the IP dynamics of the alcoholic beverage industry, Clarivate analysts use integrated IP insights to explore the transformation, trends and opportunities in the multi-billion dollar global alcoholic beverage industry.

The power of branding

Perhaps more so than in any other sector, players in the alcoholic beverage industry understand the power of branding. As consummate marketers, they navigate regulations that aim to ensure responsible marketing of alcohol and vary from country to country, while delivering memorable campaigns such as Aviation Gin’s parody of Peloton’s holiday ad.

It’s hardly surprising then that alcoholic beverage companies have gone to considerable lengths to protect their brands. Our trademark intelligence from CompuMark revealed that trademark applications in Nice class 32 and 33 – covering beers, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages – have risen significantly since 2017. This could possibly lead to brand disputes rising in the future.

Changing consumption patterns and consumer trends

Changing consumption patterns and consumer behavior are also transforming the industry. Health conscious millennials and Gen Z drinkers are turning to lower alcohol drinks; discerning drinkers are increasingly turning to craft drinks, whether craft beer or gin. Through our Derwent patent intelligence, we see beer patent activity  rising, with Mainland China the leading innovator, well ahead of second place South Korea and the United States, who surpassed Germany to claim third place.

Another trend that continues to influence development within the alcoholic beverage industry is premiumization. With greater purchasing power and a growing middle class in markets such as Mainland China, the desire for authenticity and status has accelerated demand for protection of premium products through Geographical Indications (GIs). In fact, using our Darts-ip case data and analytics solution, we uncover interesting insights on the most ubiquitous GIs in alcoholic beverage IP cases – exploring not only which GIs have the widest protection, but also the protection strategies of the largest alcoholic names with protected geographic status.

The digital potential

Perhaps the most surprising insight is what our MarkMonitor^TM domain data reveal about alcoholic beverage companies’ online strategies. Our MarkMonitor domain intelligence explains how alcoholic beverage brands could take advantage of new top level domains such as .BEER and .VODKA to drive traffic to their websites and engage with consumers. For a fast-moving industry, the level of internet innovation or new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) adoption is low compared to another dynamic sector, the gaming industry. Will we see more alcoholic beverage companies apply for their .BRAND domain when the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) next round of TLD applications come around?

Intelligence from integrated IP

By analyzing IP activity using a blend of case, domain, patent and trademark data, we can also see a geographic shift in the industry. Mainland China is emerging as a prominent player, dominating innovation across the alcoholic beverage IP lifecycle.

Insights from integrated IP offer strategists, marketers, research and development teams and more the opportunity to better understand the market landscape, where potential opportunities or pitfalls lie, and the likely trajectory of some trends.

Want to know what else IP intelligence tells us about the alcoholic beverage industry? Read Distilling the IP dynamics of the alcoholic beverage industry to learn more.

Interested in more research from our IP experts? See our recent analysis of the future of cloud gaming or learn how the pandemic is affecting corporate innovation strategies.

The post What IP intelligence reveals about transformation, trends and opportunities in the alcoholic beverage industry [Report] appeared first on CompuMark.

Disruption is not just a buzzword; it’s a daily reality for organizations in virtually every industry. Creative destruction is accelerating as S&P 500 lifespans continue to shrink, requiring new strategies for navigating disruption. Innosight estimates that 50% of the companies currently listed on the S&P 500 will disappear by 2027. What will the survivors have in common? The ability to focus on the right innovations and get them to market faster and more efficiently. That puts intelligent use of IP data at the center of successful business strategies.

In our report, Data unleashed: How Clarivate is shaping the future of IP intelligence, we examine the factors driving the need for a new IP data model—and how Clarivate is taking the lead in shaping the future of IP information and insights. Our goal: to accelerate innovation and bring new products to market faster, while reducing the cost of doing business and mitigating risk by investing in the innovations that matter.

New realities demand a new approach to IP

Business professionals are facing rising pressures from all sides. Digital disruptors are driving a growing demand for data-driven decisions and strategies. The increasing speed of business creates the need to simplify increasingly complex portfolios and processes. Proliferating competitive and security risks demand new, actionable insights. Professionals must meet these challenges with flat or even decreasing resources.

These growing trends are giving rise to new information business models—including cloud-based and “as-a-service” models that put flexible capabilities at users’ fingertips.

At Clarivate, we believe these forces and trends define the future of our business. Business and R&D professionals need easier access to IP data and intelligence in ways that meet their specific needs, in real time. Prepackaged “products” have their place but they can’t deliver on these emerging needs. That’s why Clarivate is moving toward a new model that allows professionals to put information resources from diverse IP domains together in flexible ways to meet the needs of the moment.

Creating productive, personalized experiences

Realizing this new model of IP data delivery requires a combination of advanced technologies, from automated data cleansing to big data analytics to advanced natural language processing and visualization. The result will combine virtual data sources across diverse IP domains—trademarks, patents, domain names, copyrights, legal decisions, competitive intelligence and more—to allow extremely flexible, individualized experiences.

Having seamless access to all Clarivate IP datasets will:

• enable branding and legal professionals to collaborate more easily and mitigate risk more effectively
• give researchers and innovators the ability to make novel connections across IP domains, leading to new product ideas that accelerate innovation and fuel growth
• provide data scientists and application developers with access to timely IP data to build powerful, new research tools for a wide range of business applications to speed the pace of business

These are just a few examples. The true potential of Clarivate data, technology and expertise is unlimited, waiting to be discovered by the professionals who avail themselves of this new “IP intelligence-as-a-service” model.

Realizing this bold vision

This is the future—not just for Clarivate, but for the entire IP space. We’re well on the way to making it a reality. Recent investments by Clarivate are focused on strengthening our ability to deliver on this bold vision.

By making IP intelligence more accessible, more flexible and more actionable, we can provide the clarity our customers need to create, protect and advance innovations that will transform the world for the better.

To get the full story, read Data unleashed: How Clarivate is shaping the future of IP intelligence.

This report and any statements included herein may contain forward-looking statements regarding Clarivate. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations or forecasts of future events and may include statements regarding outcomes, anticipated capabilities and other future expectations. These statements involve risks and uncertainties including factors outside of the control of Clarivate that may cause actual outcomes to differ materially. Clarivate undertakes no obligation to update or revise the statements made herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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The “risk 0” rarely exists when it comes to clearing trademarks globally. Searching for a trademark in multiple jurisdictions will most likely result in finding a mark that is similar from a legal standpoint. Trademark research helps you find these similar marks, but how can one decide which findings deserve attention and which ones don’t? This is where IP case information becomes immensely valuable.

Reviewing cases of marks similar to the trademark in question can help give clients a better understanding of their likelihood of receiving a positive outcome. Analyzing relevant cases can provide support that substantiates decisions to proceed or not proceed with a trademark filing.

Read the report now the learn more about why IP case data and trademark data form such a powerful combination.

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The story of video gaming stretches back to the very beginning of the computing age. Always a test bed and demonstrator for computational power, innovation convergence across display technology, connectivity and processor capability has enabled the growth of an industry now far beyond $100 billion in sales each year.

That growth is not just economic, but also cultural. The stories told in a modern computing game, the way characters are developed and acted, the complexity of production and attention to detail in virtual worlds rivals the production of a major Hollywood film. It is not surprising that the video game industry is now larger than worldwide book sales and has for many years surpassed the global movie box office. As a diversionary pastime, it is likely now the world’s favorite.

The desire for game designers to extend, to push what is possible, has always been in tension with the level of game-playing equipment consumers can afford, can fit or can power in their home.

The launch of major gaming platforms that stream video games into players’ homes, but are run and stored in the cloud, seeks to circumvent that inherent limitation.

In our report Cowboys, Combat and Candy: Cloud Gaming through the lens of IP, Clarivate has taken a deep look at the development journey of cloud gaming: the dynamics that have paved the way, the companies that have invested and the future development pathways available for even greater game capability.

Insights from integrated IP

Over the past year, intellectual property analysts from Clarivate IP solutions have been researching how different types of IP registration events can work together to tell a fuller story surrounding commercial development cycles. For example, applying the principles of advanced patent analysis to trademark datasets.

IP activity, whether a patent, a trademark or Internet domain registration, acts like a breadcrumb trail that strategists and researchers can follow.

Our work in laying out the registration trail in cloud gaming, focused on the activities of five major platforms as they approach launch, demonstrates how different IP datasets working together foreshadow what will happen months or even years before those plans are publicly announced.

IP activity, whether a patent, a trademark or Internet domain registration, acts like a breadcrumb trail that strategists and researchers can follow.

As found in other analyses conducted by our IP team, patent data and its unique ability to provide vast technical detail alongside the economic planning of patent applicants, tells us how trends in gaming laid the groundwork for a viable cloud model. Massively, multiplayer online, free-to-play and mobile games have successfully introduced to consumers new ways of paying – such as subscriptions to access virtual worlds, in-game transactions for game content or even in-game advertising.

That foundational activity around commercial models has since subsided, to be replaced by extensive work in solving the very toughest problems in streaming video games. These include the issue of internet latency, which would make games unplayable if there is any delay between a player pressing a button and the game responding.

Our integrated view of IP data tells us that the early work on game designs that only play in a cloud environment is now occurring. We also uncovered companies with extensive technical assets applicable to the industry, but that had not yet registered brands, hinting at imminent release of a service – such as Amazon and Nintendo.

Changing what is possible

The move of the gaming industry to cloud has the potential to disrupt and disintermediate in a strikingly similar way to how YouTube and Netflix have affected traditional broadcasting. As there, content is what matters, and the structure of the industry and how it generates revenues and funds new titles is highly likely to change.

But the chronicles of Geralt of Rivia, created in the written works of Andrzej Sapkowski, writ large in the gaming series The Witcher and now a major live action TV series on Netflix, provides a glimpse of what is really at work.

The ingenuity, education and ideation needed to solve complex technical problems ultimately serve the very human desire for compelling storytelling. Gaming offers this experience in a live, virtual environment. Cloud gaming means those worlds will no longer be limited by the equipment in people’s homes, pushing the bar higher for what is possible.

Read Cowboys, Combat and Candy: Cloud Gaming through the lens of IP or join authors for a webinar to learn more.

Interested in more research from the Clarivate intellectual property team? Read our recent analysis of the bioplastics innovation landscape, or see how the pandemic is affecting corporate innovation strategies and the critical role of the IP professional.

The post Analyzing imagination: cloud gaming through the lens of IP appeared first on CompuMark.

Here at CompuMark we have been reporting for some time on the increasing volume of applications from Mainland Chinese applicants on national registers around the world. This trend has emerged over the last few years, with Mainland Chinese applicants drawing close to United States applicants in volume of worldwide overseas filings. In recent weeks, however, this trend has seen an unprecedented surge within the United States.

At the beginning of October, our Director of Content Strategy Robert Reading reported that the week commencing September 29 the USPTO saw an astonishing landmark.

After driving increases of more than five times normal filing volumes, Mainland Chinese applicants overtook domestic United States filers as the largest nationality of applicants for United States trademarks.

More than 10,000 applications a week are now being filed by Mainland Chinese brand owners.

Figure 1. 2020 U.S. Trademark applications by owner nationality. Source: CompuMark

While the exact reason for this surge of applications is unknown, it seems possible it is related to e-commerce websites requiring sellers to have a United States trademark filing in order to export orders from Mainland China to the United States.

The World Trademark Review recently commented on this development:

“The USPTO has struggled with the flood of applications as it has also meant a jump in fraudulent applications. It seems that its rule change in August 2019, requiring foreign applicants to use US registered attorneys, has done little to reduce the incoming applications, and it is worth remembering that a significant chunk of the new applications appear to be using altered images as their specimens of use. Despite obvious effort, it is safe to say that the USPTO’s problems have not yet gone away.”

While far from all of these Mainland Chinese applications are fraudulent, with this volume of applications there is clearly a risk of infringement on existing rights. Our analysts found that many marks appear to be random collections of letters rather than carefully created brands. It is therefore more important than ever for brand owners to ensure they have a robust trademark watching program in place. With increases of 85%+ in filings, an effective monitoring service will guarantee that potentially infringing marks are discovered early, giving plenty of time to file an opposition.

If you’d like to discuss your watch portfolio and ensure your coverage is prepared for this surge in applications, please reach out to your account manager or contact our CompuMark team today.

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Didi and Coupang have largest portfolios while Airbnb has the greatest geographic scope. On average it took just under two years for disruptors to file their first marks. Analysis reveals the top 50 are fast acting when it comes to IP protection. 

CNBC has just released its eighth annual Disruptor 50 list, which identifies the private companies “whose breakthroughs are influencing business and market competition at an accelerated pace.” The start-ups on the list are mainly tech heavyweights with strong financial backing, and 36 of the disruptors are at – or have surpassed – the $1 billion valuation mark.

Given that these are the start-ups with some of the greatest promise, it is worth exploring how intellectual property has factored into their growing businesses. Positively, our analysis shows that disruptors have not only been quick to protect their intangibles, they have also developed fairly robust trademark portfolios in the relatively small amount of time that they have been active.

A total of 50 companies were considered for this analysis, 42 of which are headquartered in North America (the United States accounting for 40 of these), with seven in the Middle East and Asia, and one in Europe (based in Sweden). The start-ups, on average, are about eight years of age, with the oldest founded in 2005 and the youngest in 2016 (see table below; companies are listed as they are ranked by CNBC).

Source: CompuMark

The first thing that stands out is the sheer number of businesses that have sought trademark protection. Convoy, a Seattle-based trucking software company, is the only one without a registered mark. According to CompuMark director of custom and managed solutions Robert Reading, the start-up had applied for a U.S. application for the term ‘Convoy’ in 2015 but it was opposed and ultimately abandoned.

Looking at the top 50 data set as a whole shows that the average portfolio has 276 trademarks. However, this number is skewed by a small number of companies filing large volumes of marks (see graph below). Excluding Didi and Coupang gives an average of 106.5 trademarks per entity. The average portfolio size for disruptors located in the United States is 89 trademarks.

It is worth noting that a vast majority of the two outliers’ portfolios are protected in their home jurisdictions. Of Didi’s 6,128 trademarks, 5,658 are filed in China, while 1,951 of Coupang’s 2,409 are filed in South Korea. The latter, which has been dubbed the Amazon of South Korea, interestingly owns trademarks for COUPANG ONE CLICK and COUPANG PRIME, says Reading.

Source: CompuMark

Aside from taking the time to lay down the foundations of their trademark portfolios, this year’s disruptors are also shown to be cognizant of obtaining far-reaching geographic protections. On average, the top 50 have filed trademarks in 13 registers. Airbnb has the most diverse portfolio, which is not surprising given its international operations (see graph below). Rounding out the top three are Didi and Stripe, which filed marks in 66 and 63 registers, respectively. It is worth noting that applications filed via the Madrid Protocol are counted as one register.

Source: CompuMark

The United States was the top register for 34 of the 49 start-ups studied. Typically, companies sought the most protection in their home countries, but that was not always the case. Two Canadian companies, Attabotics and Trulioo, filed most of their marks in India and the United States, with nine and five applications, respectively. Klarna, a fintech company based in Sweden and the only European company to feature in the list, has filed most of its marks at the EUIPO. Meanwhile, of the two Israeli companies to make the list, Healthy.io has filed most of its trademarks at the EUIPO, and Neteera’s filings are tied between its home jurisdiction and WIPO.

A significant number of the disruptors sought to protect their brands and trademarks in the very early stages of their business. Exactly 70% applied for trademark protection sometime between the year of launching and their second year in the market (see graph below). Two start-ups, Didi and CLEAR, filed their first marks before their businesses were properly founded (Didi’s in 2011 and CLEAR in 2005). On average, the companies studied took just under two years to file their first trademarks after launching.

Source: CompuMark

Of course, trademarks are not the only intangible that needs protecting, especially given that these disruptors are heavily tech-focused. Analysts from Derwent repeated the initial analysis to gain an understanding of the depth and breadth of the start-ups’ patent portfolios (see table below). A total of 36 of the top 50 owned at least one patent, and the average size of these portfolios amounted to 163.5 patents. It took about 2.3 years after launching for these businesses to file their first patents, which is just slightly more time than it took for the first trademarks to be filed.

Curiously, almost half of the companies in this data set applied for a trademark before filing for their first patent. The expectation, explains Reading, is that we would see patents filed first, then a trademark a few years later, which would fall in line with the R&D process of idea to development, then product/service being launched. On average, though, these disruptors filed trademarks a few months before the first patent. Overall, 16 businesses filed a trademark before their first patent, and seven lodged their first trademark and patent applications in the same year.

Source: CompuMark and Derwent, Clarivate solutions

This year’s disruptors are expected to have a bold impact on the market, and with such strong innovative potential it is promising to see that these brands have put in the time and money to build up their IP protections. Nearly all 50 start-ups have laid the groundwork for their trademark portfolios, and 36 the foundations for their patent holdings. The lower number of businesses seeking patent protection is not entirely surprising, as our sister platform IAM has previously reported on the small percentage of tech start-ups that take the time to develop patent portfolios of significant depth.

What is remarkable about this data is that it shows that the disruptors are not following the usual patent/trademark filing process as pointed out by Reading. Instead, most were extremely quick to secure both trademark and patent protections. It may be the nature of these businesses to be fast acting and flexible, but their filing approaches are nonetheless a positive reflection of how strong-performing start-ups feel about intellectual property.

Bridget Diakun
Author | Data reporter
bridget.diakun@lbresearch.com

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