This is Bill.
Bill created a successful brand but didn't protect it.
Bill could've saved himself time and money.
Bill isn't feeling so smart.
Don't be like Bill.
You will probably have seen something similar to the above on social media in the last few weeks. Bill, the mysterious man with his passive-aggressive advice, is the creation of Eugeniu Croitoru and has been a viral internet sensation amassing over 1.5 million 'likes' on Facebook in just a matter of weeks. Mr Croitoru created a successful brand almost overnight, something which is happening increasingly frequently due to social media.
However, Mr Croitoru did not take steps to protect his new brand, which includes failing to protect the strapline, BE LIKE BILL. In the meantime two individuals have beaten Mr Croitoru to the punch and have filed a UK Trade Mark application for BE LIKE BILL covering a large range of goods and services.
Mr Croitoru may have grounds to prevent the application for BE LIKE BILL proceeding to registration, with the argument that the application was filed in bad faith being first on the list. However, the best case scenario for Mr Croitoru is that he will successfully oppose the application but likely having spent significantly more on fighting the third party application than the cost of just filing the application himself in the first place. The worst case scenario is that he spends the money fighting the case and loses which is entirely possible as bad faith can be difficult to argue successfully and is likely to require significant amounts of evidence to support the claim (which will drive costs up).
What will happen remains to be seen, but this should serve as a cautionary tale, not only to those who stumble on to the next big internet hit, but also those businesses which regularly create new brands. If you have something which could be a success, protect it straight away. The cost of registering and protecting a brand which ultimately does not go anywhere will be much less costly, and much less frustrating than having to try and recover the brand which did take off but which you did not protect.
Don't be like Bill, protect your IP.
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