Feature Articles: Business Sense

Sometimes well-known trademarks are so familiar to us that they become synonymous with the products themselves. Brand names like Band-Aid, Kleenex, Spandex, Xerox and many more have entered our vocabulary, so much so that we use them to describe generic products other than the originals. When was the last time you asked for a facial tissue? While it’s not illegal for consumers to do this in everyday speech, it can be a big problem for companies who use a well-known trademark, perhaps without realizing that it is a registered trademark, to describe their own products. I think the most commonly misused trademark in the children’s apparel industry is ONESIES®.

Trade shows are great places to get revved up. Surrounded by new and familiar faces, fresh designs and a positive vibe, my creative juices always start racing. No, I’m not driving toward a disclosure about hidden design aspirations. Rather, my mind fills with business ideas and growth opportunities on behalf of the exhibiting companies. For the newbies who have just left the starting line, I can already envision ways they could expand on their concepts, protect their proprietary ideas and boost their visibility. And for the more established brands, I imagine a myriad of ways for them to shift into a higher gear.

Do you believe that someone has copied your designs? Legally, a copycat may not be necessarily guilty of copyright infringement. A recent case involving a comic book character and a movie character, both with hairdryers in hand, provides a valuable reminder of what is and what is not protected by copyright law. It’s a battle over whether a comic book creator can protect his hairdryer-toting, terrorist-fighting figure from being copied by big-time Hollywood studios. Although this copyright case did not involve the children’s industry directly, fashion and product design similarities are a common problem for many in the juvenile business.

Staying fresh and relevant is a constant challenge for any business. A struggling economy doesn’t help much. How do you maintain your growth momentum or possibly kick-start a business experiencing a plateau? The answer is to look at your brand (your business) with fresh eyes. When doing so, you will discover new opportunities to pursue and uncover options you may have never thought you had. Of course, there are countless ways to revitalize a brand, but here are 5 universal strategies that most, if not all, in the children’s business can employ.