CSC’s Trademark Insider Report for Q3 2009 came out last week. There are a variety of interesting items in the report. Overall, filings are still down considerably from before the recession.
The full report is here (PDF): https://www.cscglobal.com/img/marketing/pdfs/Q3-09Trademark-Insider.pdf
The list of top company filers contains the usual suspects – Mattel, Time Warner, Walt Disney Company, Johnson & Johnson, etc. These are companies that are investing in the future, not shrinking in a recession, and recognize the value of protecting their intellectual property. You don’t have to be a Fortune 500 company to execute the same philosophy. Companies are flooding to our firm with new products and services – things like iPhone applications, websites, restaurants, exercise for kids, and lots more. These companies recognize that there are industries where people are spending lots of money, and that while some competitors whittle away cutting spending and waiting for the end of the recession, others are growing now and preparing to grow even more as the economy continues to get better.
I was in the top 40 trademark attorneys (in terms of number of filings) for the year through the 3rd quarter. While we handle an impressive volume of applications, we focus more on quality and value for our clients than shear numbers. And about 1/2 of those ranked higher on the list are from much larger law firms.
Lesson: Are you preparing for the future like those companies at the tip of this list?
