Now is a great moment to generate a legal definition of a brand. Mondelēz, owner of iconic brands such as Oreos, Chips Ahoy! and Wheat Thins, is suing grocery chain Aldi over “… Aldi’s look-alike product packaging. The suit says that Aldi “blatantly copies” Mondelēz signature snacks in a way that is “… likely to deceive and confuse customers,” as reported in The New York Times.
Most people realize that copyright protects works of art like poems and short stories, photographs, paintings and drawings, and musical compositions.
Before you can begin to understand copyright—that invisible but powerful and infinitely expandable concept that governs so many of our dealings with each other—you must first learn what it is not.
Sand castle construction and brand building have a lot in common. If the foundation isn’t solid, it doesn’t matter how strong the structure is. It’s going to fail.
As a brand steward, you must be aware of the laws under which legal protection is available.
