[powerpress: http://gsbm-med.pepperdine.edu/gbr/audio/summer2011/GBR_BrandonCarrPodcast.mp3]
Click on the “play” arrow above to listen to the podcast
This podcast of the Graziadio Business Review features Brandon Carr, an associate at Valle Makoff LLP, a complex civil litigation firm that represents many clients in intellectual property matters. He discusses the nature of naming a company and shaping its brand, and the consequences of poor planning,which can be fatal to a company’s brand. A company must be able to defend its marks and dress to ensure a continued, strong association between the company’s products and their source.
Along with David Scalise, JD, and Alexa Koenig, JD, MA, Brandon is the co-author of Protecting Descriptive Brands in Trademark and Trade Dress Law: Why it’s Important and How to Do It, which was published in the Summer 2011 issue of the Graziadio Business Review.
Carr is a graduate of UC Hastings College of the Law, where he served as a member of the Board of Editors of the Hastings Law Journal and as the Senior Development Editor. Brandon graduated from UCLA with a BA in political science from the UCLA Honors Program, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude. He has experience working in a variety of intellectual property matters after interning at Sony Pictures drafting licensing deals for television and motion pictures, as well as a judicial extern for Judge Marla Miller of the San Francisco Superior Court.
The interview questions are listed below:
- For the uninitiated, can you explain what secondary meaning is?
- What are the ways in which it can be established?
- In the article, you discuss a few examples of companies that have been successful in their case for secondary meaning and some that were not. Can you give our listeners a few examples?
- Okay, so obviously, this is a very complex subject matter. What possessed you to want to tackle these issues in this three-part series?
- Finally, what are the most important takeaways for potential business owners when they go about trying to come up with a good name?
Related in the Graziadio Business Review…
Secondary Meaning in Trademark and Trade Dress Law
This article, the second in a series focused on trademarks and trade dress, details the doctrine of secondary meaning and its ramifications for businesses.
An overview of the critical issue of distinctiveness in trademark law and how a company’s marks and dress can be made as strong as possible.
