DQ1))Consider a firm that is considering marketing its innovation in multiple

countries.What factors should this firm consider in formulating its protection strategy?

There are various firms that is considering its innovation in multiple countries.The distinct
firms are Coca-Cola,McDonald’s,Nike and Domino’s.These firms are having greater
recognition globally.All the people residing in the different countries are aware of these
brands and have large impact on the minds of the consumers.

According to Coca-Cola Company:

I am going to consider the Coca-Cola firm.Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink developed

by the Coca-Cola Company and marketing its innovation in several countries.

The Coca-Cola company is a multinational corporation focused on the manufacture and

sale of various beverage products, especially nonalcoholic beverage concentrates and
syrups.

The company commenced its operation in the United States in the year 1886.The prevailing
formula of the Coca-Cola remains a trade secret.The Coca-Cola produces diverse variants
such as Diet Coke, Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Cherry,
Coca-Cola Vanilla,Coca-Cola Life etc.

Coca-Cola has a focus on innovation that goes beyond the ability to create better tasting
sodas or carbonated beverages.Coca-Cola pursues innovation but doesn’t treat every one of
its discoveries as patentable.

There are various factors the firm should consider in formulating its protection strategy
which helps the firm to retain the control over the innovation.

Through the Patents,Copyrights,Trademarks and Trade Secrets helps the firm to protect
their technological innovations.

According to Smith Shireen:

According to Brachmann Steve(2015):

Patent is the set of exclusive rights granted by the intergovernmental organisation to an

inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure
of an invention. To get a patent, technical information about the invention must be
disclosed to the public in a patent application. When patent protection is granted the
invention becomes the property of the inventor, which like any other form of property or
business asset can be bought, sold, rented or hired. Patents are territorial rights.

Here, Coca-Cola company creates various inventions to assist with its business. The Coca-
Cola company owns a patent on a method of making “barrier coated plastic
containers.” Obviously no one has the exclusive right to make plastic containers, but Coca-
Cola has the exclusive right to use the particular method of making those containers that
they describe in their patent.

Copyright is the right to reproduce a work. The owner of the copyright in an original work,
performance, or recording has the exclusive right to copy it, to decide how it will be
published and distributed, to keep it from being modified against his or her wishes, and to
profit from it. The copyright holder also has the right to give others a licence to use the
work in specific and limited ways.

Here, Coca-Cola owns copyright in the design of its bottles, the design of its logos, its
advertising, and generally anything it creates that can be considered an original work
requiring creative effort.Coca-Cola logo and script design is an original artistic creation
that is protected by copyright law. In other words, the right to copy the logos and script
design is limited by copyright law.

Trade-Mark is a mark (a name, or a picture, or some other distinguishing mark) used by a

person or business for the purpose of distinguishing their goods or services from other
people’s. The Coca-Cola company holds registered trade-marks in its logo and script
design.

Trade-mark protection gives Coca-Cola the right to stop competitors from passing off their
goods and services as Coca-Cola’s, and to be compensated for any damage Coca-Cola may
suffer as a result of this unfair competition. Trade-mark protection also protects
consumers by prohibiting confusing trade-marks in the marketplace.

Trade Secret is a piece of information whose value derives from it not being widely known.
The essential elements of a trade secret are that it must actually be a secret, disclosed only
to those employees of the company who need to know it in order to do their jobs, and that
the company must actually be taking stronger-than-usual precautions in order to keep the
secret.
The formula for making Coca-Cola is a trade secret. The original formula for making
Coca-Cola was patented in 1893. But when the formula changed, the company did not
choose to patent the formula again.

References:

Coca-Cola Company,Retrieved From:

https://www.coca-colacompany.com/

Smith Shireen,How safe is Coca Cola’s Trademark Coke? Retrieved From:

http://www.azrights.com/media/news-and-media/blog/intellectual-property/2010/06/how-
safe-is-coca-colas-trade-mark-coke/

Brachmann Steve(2015),Coca-Cola’s Patents:From Juice Dispensers to Artificially

Sweetened Cereals,Retrieved From:

http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2015/03/25/coca-cola-patents-juice-dispensers-artificially-
sweetened-cereals/id=55730/