Mike Rule of Pepper Hamilton LLP recently wrote an article titled “Marketing vs. Legal: The Internal Battle over Trademarks in Today’s Business Climate”. The article addresses the tension between marketing departments, who may devote a significant amount of time and resources to a new ad campaign, and legal departments, who can be viewed as overprotective and unrealistic. As Mike asks:
[H]ow does a business keep the “sizzle” in its ads without incurring the “fizzle” that accompanies legal woes? The answer involves equal parts cooperation, ego-checking and a basic understanding of trademark law.
Mike’s article also discusses the role of business priorities in trademark filing decisions, and the need to incorporate branding strategy into trademark filing decisions:
Sometimes a mark initially perceived as “great” by Marketing and deemed both “safe” and “strong” by Legal, can turn out to be simply “costly” to the company.
For the full text of Mike’s article, click here.
IP Spotlight 
Mike’s article is great. The battle between marketing and legal is something that I partake in daily!