How to build your brand: own it, protect it and scale it

A strong brand creates real, intrinsic value for a business – not just for its bottom line.

Think of a brand. Do you picture the logo of a large company such as Amazon or Google? That is often the first thing that comes to mind.

But a brand is much more than a logo. It can be one of your business’s most valuable assets – and building it starts with strong foundations.

Those foundations include communicating clearly what you do and remaining authentic to your purpose and values.

These themes emerged from our BEntrepreneurial brand strategy session, hosted by Madelin Sinclair McAusland and Amy Salter with Natasha McKenzie, CEO and co-founder of Talisman Sparro.

Plant your flag

With strong foundations in place, you can turn to three priorities: owning, protecting and commercialising your brand.

Secure trade mark protection for your brand name and logo at an early stage. Founders are understandably enthusiastic about a chosen name and may carry out a few informal checks, such as searching Companies House. However, a company-name search reveals only part of the picture.

Once you have shortlisted potential names, ask a lawyer to conduct comprehensive clearance searches and apply for the appropriate registrations. Keep dated records showing when and how the brand was created.

If someone outside the business, such as a consultant, helps create intellectual property (IP), ensure that the relevant rights are formally assigned to the business.

IP created by an employee in the course of their employment will generally belong to the business. By contrast, a consultant will usually retain ownership (even after being paid) unless those rights are assigned in writing.

Treat your brand as a living asset

Once ownership is secure, consider how your IP should evolve with the business. Brand assets are living assets and should form an integral part of your long-term commercialisation strategy.

Businesses often protect their principal brand or logo at launch, then introduce new products or services under separate names. Build regular review points into your strategy so that you can audit newly created IP, confirm what the business owns and identify opportunities to exploit it.

How you use the brand becomes increasingly important as the business scales. At first, you may exploit it directly; later, collaborations and licensing arrangements may offer new routes to growth.

Before entering any collaboration or licence, understand the terms and, critically, how they may restrict future activity. An exclusive licence, for example, could prevent you from using your own brand in the licensed field or territory, even though you still own it.

Commercial decisions are IP decisions

For founders starting or scaling a business, the key actions are:

1. Secure appropriate trade mark registrations for your brand name and logo early;
2. Keep detailed, dated records of when and how the brand was created;
3. Ensure that IP created by third parties, including consultants, is assigned to the business in writing;
4. Review your IP portfolio and strategy regularly; and
5. Check how the terms of licences and collaborations affect the ownership and future use of your IP.

In short, do not treat brand and IP as issues for the distant future. Own your brand, protect it early and plan how to scale it – because every commercial decision is also an IP decision.

Our intellectual property solicitors and media law experts focus on protecting and enhancing your assets, with expertise across brand and designs protection, disputes, commercialisation, transactions and specialist media advice. If you require any assistance, please get in touch with Madelin Sinclair McAusland.

Written by Sarah Morgan