Episode 63
E63: Why Copyrights are More Valuable than Trademarks
Are you a B2B professional services provider with corporate clients? Then this episode is for you.
Join me on Hourly to Exit as we take a deep dive into why copyrights are more valuable than trademarks in our line of work.
🎯 Key Takeaways:
- Copyrights: The Essential IP Asset - Copyright protection defends the tangible expression of your expertise. These assets include training materials, marketing collateral, podcasts, speeches, and much more. Copyrights empower you to control the use of your expertise.
- Trademarks are Nice to Have but not essential - Trademarks are a tool for protecting your brand identity but are not nearly as powerful as having strong positioning.
- Maximizing Business Value - Copyrights offer you exclusivity and sustainability, the pillars of building a scalable and saleable service-based business. Intellectual property assets, such as copyrights, data, insights, tools, and processes, contribute significantly to the exclusivity and positioning of your business. Combine this with your niche expertise, thought leadership, brand, and reputation, and you have a winning formula to cement your unique position in the marketplace.
🎧 Tune in to "Hourly to Exit" and discover why copyrights take the lead in the intellectual property game, providing greater value and opportunities for growth in your professional services business.
Don't forget to check out the slides on our YouTube channel or LinkedIn profile for an immersive experience!
Connect with Erin to learn how to use intellectual property to increase your income and impact. hourlytoexit.com/podcast.
Erin's LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinaustin/
Think Beyond IP YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVztXnDYnZ83oIb-EGX9IGA/videos
Music credit: Yes She Can by Tiny Music
A Team Dklutr production
Transcript
Hello everyone, welcome to
Speaker:this month's LinkedIn Live.
Speaker:I do these every last
Speaker:Wednesday of the month
Speaker:at noon eastern, where I
Speaker:answer your questions about
Speaker:copyrights and contracts.
Speaker:And so if you are listening
Speaker:to this, um, there are Slides
Speaker:that go along with this,
Speaker:although you can absolutely,
Speaker:get all the value from this
Speaker:episode by listening to it.
Speaker:But if you're curious, you
Speaker:can see the slides on my
Speaker:YouTube channel, or also
Speaker:on my LinkedIn profile.
Speaker:So this month, we are talking
Speaker:about why copyrights are more
Speaker:valuable than trademarks.
Speaker:Now, this is my opinion.
Speaker:Of course, I imagine a
Speaker:trademark lawyer would
Speaker:have a different opinion,
Speaker:but my point of view is
Speaker:specifically with respect to
Speaker:the B2B professional services
Speaker:provider who has corporate.
Speaker:Clients, and so are concerned
Speaker:a little bit different than,
Speaker:say, a Pepsi or a FedEx
Speaker:or even, an IBM, right?
Speaker:we are going to talk about.
Speaker:they are different how
Speaker:they are same and how
Speaker:they will work together.
Speaker:So 1st and please feel free to
Speaker:put comments in the, chat box.
Speaker:if it doesn't throw me off
Speaker:too much, I'll answer them.
Speaker:But if not, I'll
Speaker:wait until the end.
Speaker:I've gone both ways.
Speaker:so copyrights versus is
Speaker:1 is if they're battling
Speaker:against each other, but
Speaker:aren't that was just.
Speaker:Because I like the
Speaker:image because they
Speaker:really do work together.
Speaker:As, you know, I'm a huge fan
Speaker:of service based businesses of
Speaker:experts, creating intellectual
Speaker:property assets, because
Speaker:they're very important value
Speaker:builder in your business.
Speaker:And so they, aren't
Speaker:mutual exclusive.
Speaker:We will have copyrights
Speaker:and trademarks throughout
Speaker:both in our businesses,
Speaker:probably, but I will be.
Speaker:Making an argument, of
Speaker:course, that, the copyrights
Speaker:are the more valuable
Speaker:and the more essential
Speaker:intellectual property
Speaker:assets in your business.
Speaker:1st, to talk about what
Speaker:does copyright protect
Speaker:versus what trainer.
Speaker:Protects copyright protects
Speaker:the original expression of
Speaker:something intangible form.
Speaker:what we write in a
Speaker:book, what we paint on a
Speaker:painting, what we record
Speaker:in a song or on video, what
Speaker:we create in a graphic.
Speaker:So those things that we take
Speaker:an original idea, and we make.
Speaker:work out of it.
Speaker:those things that have to be
Speaker:human, of course, are eligible
Speaker:for copyright protection.
Speaker:you may know that copyright
Speaker:protection attaches at
Speaker:the moment that that
Speaker:original work is created.
Speaker:there is an extra step of
Speaker:registration if you want to
Speaker:enforce the copyright against
Speaker:a third party infringers,
Speaker:but you do have that
Speaker:copyright protection from the
Speaker:moment that it is created.
Speaker:Trademark and copyright
Speaker:very importantly does
Speaker:not protect ideas.
Speaker:Trademark protects our
Speaker:reputation, our brand.
Speaker:It tells, the world, the
Speaker:consumer specifically.
Speaker:What the origin of a good
Speaker:or service is, I used
Speaker:examples of IBM and FedEx.
Speaker:When we see those
Speaker:trademarks, we know
Speaker:exactly who's delivering
Speaker:our package or where our
Speaker:office machine came from.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:What does IBM do now?
Speaker:and so it protects, names.
Speaker:Logos, even protect colors
Speaker:like u p s, brown, and even
Speaker:sounds like the N B C, chime.
Speaker:and so that tells the world,
Speaker:so that protects the origin
Speaker:of a good or service, but
Speaker:it does not protect content.
Speaker:And so I'm gonna talk about.
Speaker:An example today, where you
Speaker:are, we are an HR consultancy.
Speaker:The name of our business is
Speaker:diversity talent solutions.
Speaker:And yes, I did get
Speaker:that from chat.
Speaker:GBT.
Speaker:and we provide DEI training
Speaker:to corporate clients.
Speaker:And so when we
Speaker:have this business.
Speaker:What do trademarks versus
Speaker:copyrights protect for us?
Speaker:copyright that protects all
Speaker:of our training materials, any
Speaker:videos that we've recorded,
Speaker:scripts for our trainers,
Speaker:workbooks, worksheets,
Speaker:um, you know, webinars
Speaker:that we put on.
Speaker:These are all works.
Speaker:That when they are original,
Speaker:and we've put them in
Speaker:tangible form, they are
Speaker:protected by copyright.
Speaker:All of our marketing
Speaker:materials, the podcast that
Speaker:we go on the speeches that
Speaker:we give our LinkedIn posts,
Speaker:our newsletter, our website,
Speaker:all of those materials are
Speaker:protected by copyright.
Speaker:Work product, let's say we
Speaker:are engaged to create employee
Speaker:workbook for 1 of our clients.
Speaker:And so it is copyright law
Speaker:that will determine the
Speaker:ownership and the rights.
Speaker:that client, will have in
Speaker:using that employee workbook.
Speaker:So it could be that, you have
Speaker:1 that you're just licensing
Speaker:to them and that they can't
Speaker:use it for any other purpose,
Speaker:or it could be that you're
Speaker:creating an original 1, just
Speaker:for them because there's
Speaker:something unique about
Speaker:their office environment.
Speaker:And they had some specific,
Speaker:requests but it is copyright
Speaker:that will determine the
Speaker:ownership and the use or
Speaker:reuse, or the creation
Speaker:of derivatives of that.
Speaker:work product, and let's
Speaker:say you are the client.
Speaker:Let's say you have
Speaker:engaged a 3rd party to
Speaker:help create your course.
Speaker:you are the expert
Speaker:in issues, but you're
Speaker:not a course designer.
Speaker:You're not an educate.
Speaker:I think they're called.
Speaker:Education designers, perhaps.
Speaker:And so you've engaged one of
Speaker:them to help you, with the
Speaker:user experience, the flow and
Speaker:everything of your course.
Speaker:So you hire them.
Speaker:It is copyright law
Speaker:that will determine your
Speaker:ownership rights in the
Speaker:deliverables that course
Speaker:designer creates for you.
Speaker:So that's copyright.
Speaker:On the trademark side, what
Speaker:does trademark protect?
Speaker:It protects the name
Speaker:of your business.
Speaker:And so, we can see that
Speaker:there is a little bit
Speaker:of a lopsided there.
Speaker:So we're going to talk about
Speaker:the value of copyrights.
Speaker:In your business and the value
Speaker:of copyrights to your clients.
Speaker:first, in the context
Speaker:of maximizing the
Speaker:value in your business.
Speaker:I talk about exclusivity
Speaker:and sustainability.
Speaker:I have, talked a great.
Speaker:Deal about it in the context
Speaker:of creating a business
Speaker:that you can sell someday.
Speaker:But the things that help you
Speaker:create a business that would
Speaker:be saleable are the same
Speaker:things that help you build
Speaker:a business that is scalable
Speaker:and therefore increase the
Speaker:value in your business.
Speaker:So the two main pillars we
Speaker:talk about when we're talking
Speaker:about service based business
Speaker:and maximizing the value
Speaker:of it are the exclusivity
Speaker:and the sustainability
Speaker:of the business.
Speaker:and within exclusivity,
Speaker:we'll, take each and turn
Speaker:exclusivity and sustainability
Speaker:with exclusivity.
Speaker:We have the 2 pillars of
Speaker:assets and positioning.
Speaker:Now, positioning is
Speaker:technically an asset as
Speaker:well, but I've set it up
Speaker:this way to think about,
Speaker:because assets are more
Speaker:kind of solid, even though
Speaker:they're intangible, they're
Speaker:more solid than positioning,
Speaker:which is a little bit harder
Speaker:to kind of grasp, um, asset.
Speaker:on the asset side and also
Speaker:on the asset side, these
Speaker:are things that can be
Speaker:pretty cleanly assigned
Speaker:to a 3rd party or is
Speaker:positioning may or may not
Speaker:be assignable to 3rd party.
Speaker:So, your assets, your
Speaker:intellectual property, which
Speaker:we've talked about, we've
Speaker:talked about the things in
Speaker:our HR consultancy business
Speaker:in this example, that are
Speaker:protected by copyrights
Speaker:or by trademarks data.
Speaker:Would be a valuable asset
Speaker:if you have data or research
Speaker:that you have databases are
Speaker:protected under copyright
Speaker:law and any insights
Speaker:that you draw for them.
Speaker:You take your data and you
Speaker:analyze it and you draw
Speaker:insights from it and you
Speaker:publish white papers or
Speaker:use it in presentations.
Speaker:Those insights are
Speaker:protected by copyright.
Speaker:And then the things we
Speaker:use within our business
Speaker:to make us more efficient
Speaker:to maximize the value that
Speaker:we provide to our clients.
Speaker:We develop tools
Speaker:and processes.
Speaker:We may have, a
Speaker:library of resources.
Speaker:We may have
Speaker:templates or models.
Speaker:We may have methodology
Speaker:and frameworks that we use.
Speaker:We may have S.
Speaker:O.
Speaker:P.
Speaker:S.
Speaker:and even, those employee
Speaker:handbooks are important
Speaker:to make sure that we're
Speaker:all working together.
Speaker:and so those may or may not
Speaker:be, under copyright law.
Speaker:Copyright does not
Speaker:protect methodologies.
Speaker:It does protect
Speaker:the expression.
Speaker:So someone can't
Speaker:literally copy your S.
Speaker:O.
Speaker:P.
Speaker:S.
Speaker:but they can read them and.
Speaker:use them as their own.
Speaker:but still, these are assets
Speaker:that provide value in our
Speaker:business, depending on
Speaker:how developed they are,
Speaker:they would be protected
Speaker:under copyright law.
Speaker:they are not protected
Speaker:under trademark law.
Speaker:And then our positioning,
Speaker:our expertise, know, what we
Speaker:do, our niche, who we serve,
Speaker:the thought leadership, where
Speaker:we combine this to add value
Speaker:to the conversation, about.
Speaker:Who we serve and how we do
Speaker:it and, of course, our brand
Speaker:and our reputation, all these
Speaker:combine to create our unique
Speaker:position in the marketplace.
Speaker:Excuse these are.
Speaker:protected by a combination
Speaker:of copyright and trademark,
Speaker:you our thought leadership,
Speaker:all the content we create
Speaker:our presentations or speaking
Speaker:gigs, all of that webinars
Speaker:our thought leadership is
Speaker:protected by copyright law.
Speaker:And, of course, our
Speaker:brand would be protected
Speaker:with a trademark.
Speaker:and we can, of
Speaker:course, have both.
Speaker:Of I've created a
Speaker:copyrightable, work in the
Speaker:form of this presentation.
Speaker:And here I have, I don't know
Speaker:if you can see it against
Speaker:this light background, but
Speaker:I have my copyright line
Speaker:here, the C in a circle
Speaker:2023, Aaron Austin Law, PLC.
Speaker:the law firm is my official
Speaker:business entity, but my
Speaker:brand is think beyond I.
Speaker:P.
Speaker:and I have this little, I.
Speaker:P.
Speaker:guy in a box who is,
Speaker:part of my, trademark
Speaker:with think beyond I.
Speaker:P.
Speaker:Now, for me, personally,
Speaker:I have not registered
Speaker:a trademark, for think
Speaker:beyond AP, we'll tell
Speaker:you why in a minute.
Speaker:And so that is
Speaker:exclusivity pillar.
Speaker:Sustainability is
Speaker:the other pillar.
Speaker:The ability to,
Speaker:continue regardless
Speaker:of what is happening
Speaker:with you as the owner.
Speaker:So, if you are the only
Speaker:person who's driving sales,
Speaker:driving revenue, doing all
Speaker:the things, your business is
Speaker:on the less sustainable end.
Speaker:Versus if you have some
Speaker:independence and there is some
Speaker:independence in your business
Speaker:from you for making sales,
Speaker:for driving revenue, then
Speaker:it becomes more sustainable.
Speaker:And it is a continuum.
Speaker:for those of you who have
Speaker:questions about that,
Speaker:I do have a assessment
Speaker:about where you are on
Speaker:that, sustainability,
Speaker:to continuum 'em.
Speaker:And, you can find
Speaker:that on my website.
Speaker:I'll have that at the end.
Speaker:And so the things that would,
Speaker:Promote sustainability are
Speaker:leverage leverage is where
Speaker:you have an input, but
Speaker:that the output from it is
Speaker:magnified from the input.
Speaker:say, in making an investment
Speaker:in creating a product, we
Speaker:put in that investment in
Speaker:the front end, but then we
Speaker:can sell it multiple times.
Speaker:And so its impact is
Speaker:magnified from the input.
Speaker:And so generally that involves
Speaker:either, the creation of tools.
Speaker:It doesn't have to be
Speaker:something you sell.
Speaker:It can be the creation
Speaker:of tools to make
Speaker:you more efficient.
Speaker:and, something that's product
Speaker:ties that you're doing over
Speaker:and over again and again,
Speaker:you know, you can continue
Speaker:to create that value for your
Speaker:client, less expensively and
Speaker:then, Your business model,
Speaker:do you have a 1 to 1 custom
Speaker:business model, which hard
Speaker:to create efficiencies or
Speaker:do you have some variety
Speaker:of your business model?
Speaker:So you have some things
Speaker:that are 1 to several,
Speaker:like, a mastermind or
Speaker:group program, or 1 to many
Speaker:in the form of a course.
Speaker:Or a book, you don't need
Speaker:to have all those things.
Speaker:And I don't want
Speaker:anyone to think that.
Speaker:but there's more than 1
Speaker:way than just having 1
Speaker:on 1 custom services to
Speaker:create sustainability in
Speaker:your business, even just
Speaker:having a systematized,
Speaker:service that you can help
Speaker:peel off pieces of it.
Speaker:Like, you know, that.
Speaker:X needs to be done, or you
Speaker:have a starting point from
Speaker:a template, or, you know,
Speaker:that there is this piece
Speaker:that doesn't involve me.
Speaker:I can use a contractor for
Speaker:this, or I can even use
Speaker:technology for this to help
Speaker:make the delivery of that 1
Speaker:on 1 service more efficient.
Speaker:And then protection, that is
Speaker:the form of our contracts.
Speaker:are we using contracts
Speaker:effectively so that when we
Speaker:have deliverables from our
Speaker:contractors, we have work
Speaker:product we're delivering
Speaker:to our clients that we
Speaker:make sure that we're still
Speaker:owning and controlling the
Speaker:rights that flow from those
Speaker:deliverables and again,
Speaker:that is Copyright and that's
Speaker:copyright protection that
Speaker:you get with those contracts.
Speaker:typically for the expertise
Speaker:based business, there's
Speaker:always going to be
Speaker:exceptions, but these are
Speaker:just the typical cases.
Speaker:So that is the exclusivity,
Speaker:sustainability to create
Speaker:the most value in our
Speaker:businesses for ourselves.
Speaker:What about the value
Speaker:to our clients?
Speaker:I hate to call it this,
Speaker:but it is a little bit,
Speaker:the trademarks are a little
Speaker:bit of a vanity piece.
Speaker:Now it's not that it's
Speaker:unimportant that your clients
Speaker:not be able to tell you
Speaker:apart from your competitors.
Speaker:It is important that your
Speaker:clients can tell you apart
Speaker:from your competitors, but
Speaker:is the value to your clients.
Speaker:In your trademark, or is
Speaker:the value to your clients
Speaker:in the transformation?
Speaker:You provide the outcome
Speaker:that they get from you.
Speaker:That doesn't come from your
Speaker:trademark that comes from.
Speaker:The training you provide the,
Speaker:research that you have the
Speaker:insights that you have the
Speaker:process that you have all
Speaker:those things that provide
Speaker:the outcome that your clients
Speaker:are paying you for that will
Speaker:provide the outcome that your
Speaker:clients will rave about that
Speaker:will provide the outcome that
Speaker:will cause your clients to,
Speaker:refer you on to other people.
Speaker:it is not.
Speaker:The trademark and so making
Speaker:sure we're focusing on the
Speaker:outcome of providing to
Speaker:our clients and not, know,
Speaker:how cute our trademark
Speaker:may or may not be.
Speaker:would your client.
Speaker:be just as happy with you
Speaker:with a different name.
Speaker:And I'm going to argue that
Speaker:it would be now, even though
Speaker:I have obviously come to the
Speaker:conclusion that copyrights,
Speaker:are greater than I don't
Speaker:know if that's the right
Speaker:thing, but copyrights have
Speaker:more value in your B2B,
Speaker:expertise based business.
Speaker:When you have
Speaker:corporate clients.
Speaker:it doesn't mean
Speaker:that trademarks.
Speaker:Thanks.
Speaker:Are unimportant.
Speaker:They are important,
Speaker:but they don't really,
Speaker:challenge the value of the
Speaker:copyrights in your business.
Speaker:we want to be able to be
Speaker:distinguishable from our
Speaker:competitors, but that
Speaker:shouldn't be because we
Speaker:have such a cool trademark
Speaker:that should be because
Speaker:of the work we are doing.
Speaker:In our industry, getting out
Speaker:there, speaking, writing,
Speaker:showing our expertise, having
Speaker:satisfied clients, getting
Speaker:those testimonials LinkedIn.
Speaker:That's the way we
Speaker:distinguish ourselves.
Speaker:You know, having
Speaker:the positioning.
Speaker:I could go back to
Speaker:the positioning slide.
Speaker:Those are the ways
Speaker:that we create.
Speaker:our unique positioning
Speaker:and the trademark is
Speaker:the cherry on top.
Speaker:I put it this way, like,
Speaker:unless you have something
Speaker:to rave about, trademark
Speaker:doesn't mean anything because
Speaker:the trademark just attaches
Speaker:to the value of the result.
Speaker:So, the value of the
Speaker:result has to come before
Speaker:the trademark, then the
Speaker:trademark, of course, and
Speaker:say, okay, the value comes
Speaker:from this trademark, but 1st.
Speaker:You have to establish the
Speaker:value and so some of you
Speaker:may have many resources.
Speaker:If you have limited resources,
Speaker:then make sure you're
Speaker:focusing on copyrights.
Speaker:and then the trademarks are.
Speaker:nice to have, but
Speaker:not a must have.
Speaker:and, I am not a trademark
Speaker:lawyer and I will say on
Speaker:behalf of my trademark,
Speaker:lawyer colleagues that they
Speaker:will say this that if there
Speaker:is a trademark that it would
Speaker:just hurt you in your soul.
Speaker:If somebody else got it
Speaker:and took it from you,
Speaker:then get it registered.
Speaker:but if there is another
Speaker:term that could.
Speaker:work just as well, almost
Speaker:always there is, then,
Speaker:focus on making sure you're
Speaker:creating value for your
Speaker:clients, becoming the go
Speaker:to person in your space.
Speaker:if you are serving
Speaker:corporate clients,
Speaker:they know who you are.
Speaker:They're not Googling you.
Speaker:they're not going off of.
Speaker:know, how many, SEO, right?
Speaker:that's warm introduction
Speaker:sales and all the things
Speaker:that require, getting to
Speaker:build your reputation.
Speaker:So that is what I
Speaker:have for you today.
Speaker:I don't see any comments
Speaker:in the comment box.
Speaker:I'm happy to.
Speaker:Take any questions
Speaker:if you have them
Speaker:and if you don't, you can find
Speaker:out, some of the things that I
Speaker:mentioned are things that are
Speaker:probably copyrightable because
Speaker:not everything that we create,
Speaker:not all the content we create.
Speaker:Is copyrightable and so I
Speaker:have created an assessment, a
Speaker:free assessment tool that will
Speaker:determine whether or not your
Speaker:expertise is copyrightable.
Speaker:please feel free to go to
Speaker:my website, thinkbeyondip.
Speaker:com and there you can
Speaker:sign up, for my newsletter
Speaker:and for podcast updates.
Speaker:And you will also get your
Speaker:expertise copyrightable.
Speaker:Assessment, thank you
Speaker:all for joining me.
Speaker:if you have any questions,
Speaker:just shoot them to me, either
Speaker:on LinkedIn or I think beyond.
Speaker:I.
Speaker:P.
Speaker:Aaron, I think beyond.
Speaker:I.
Speaker:P.
Speaker:dot com and I will hope
Speaker:to address them in the
Speaker:next LinkedIn live.
Speaker:Thanks so much.
