In this increasingly consumer and services-led economy, brands have been in the ascendancy. They can represent tools to buy and secure customer loyalty and values such as familiarity, quality, dependability and lifestyle. A side effect of creating a globally recognised brand (or any successful product) is that others will try to copy it. Global brandlords can look to trademark, passing off, unfair competition, copyright and design right and analogous laws in various jurisdictions for legal armoury with which to keep out invaders. But they will have to look closely at the exact provisions of the relevant local laws.
As global trade has increased, so has a desire – at least among traders in developed countries – for a level of uniformity of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection. Among various multinational treaties, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) between members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is perhaps the most wide-ranging. There are currently 146 WTO members representing more than 90% of the world’s trade.
