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INSIDE INTEL


“ THE NATURE OF INTEL’S BUSINESS MEANS THAT IT DOESN’T SUFFER FROM THE SAME KIND OF COUNTERFEITING PROBLEMS AS OTHER TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES. THE PROCESS OF MAKING MICROPROCESSORS REQUIRES A COMPLEX MANUFACTURING ENVIRONMENT, SO A FAKE MICROPROCESSOR WITH AN INTEL MARK ON IT ISN’T A REGULAR OCCURRENCE.”


by these entities, this is how it works, so please stop it. We have a lot of success with that because we don’t want to go around suing people if we don’t have to. An initial approach is usually friendly and educational. We try to resolve our disputes amicably whenever we can.”


Te amicable route is always preferred because it’s efficient and cheaper than litigation, but there are times when it won’t achieve the desired result. “[Dilution] is an area of the law where people can get very emotional,” says Zefo. “It’s almost like you’re trying to take away their surname. Sometimes you end up with people who just can’t be reasoned with, no matter how hard you try.”


differs by jurisdiction,” she says. “When you get into even more innovative things like motion marks, it’s completely hit or miss whether the application will be accepted.”


She adds: “It’s changing all the time. As the world advances, trademark offices start opening up to these things, so you have to keep your eye on them for the opportunity to apply for something that you couldn’t before.”


Thirsty work


Te nature of Intel’s business means that it doesn’t suffer from the same kind of counterfeiting problems as other technology companies. Te process of making microprocessors requires a complex manufacturing environment, so a fake microprocessor with an Intel mark on it isn’t a regular occurrence, according to Zefo.


She says: “What you do see is an authentic processor getting packaged with another fake component—a cooling fan for example. Tat will be bundled with an Intel mark. Te fan may be a very bad product that causes the computer to overheat, then the processor fails and the purchaser comes looking to Intel for warranty coverage.”


Intel’s trademark team spends more of its time preserving the company’s brand as new companies threaten to dilute its trademarks. “It’s a problem because dilution is known as death


www.worldipreview.com


by a thousand cuts,” says Zefo. “One person will want to get away with it, but there has to be one rule for everyone to prevent lots of people getting away with it, otherwise we will have this wonderful, singular brand that later becomes heavily diluted.”


A company will usually dilute an Intel trademark in an obvious way, because dilution is not a commonly understood area of the law. Names such as Intel Food Services, Intelshoes and IntellStereo could all dilute the Intel brand. “[Te offending names are] usually identical with some kind of generic tack-on,” Zefo says. “Te problem is that lay people don’t even understand infringement very well. With the advent of the Internet, you constantly have people starting their own businesses. Tey don’t obtain any legal advice, don’t do any searching and don’t understand the law. Tey just put up some kind of website, practically overnight, and they’re shipping goods or offering services all over the country or the world—and they just don’t understand what they’re doing wrong.”


Trademark smarts


Zefo and her team are aware that specialist knowledge is required to understand trademark law, so they take it upon themselves to educate diluters, rather than threaten them.


She says: “We will typically send a nice, educational letter that our mark is being misused


Official action needs to be taken in these cases. “We’ll do whatever we have to do depending on what’s traditional in the country,” she says. “In the US, we will oſten try to mediate, although we may have to file suit before the person will be convinced to mediate. Tis is a good way of getting a neutral third party to explain that what we’ve been saying is true—there’s this cause of action, we have very strong rights, and so on. Tat helps a lot—we really like mediation and we use it as oſten as we can.”


She adds: “Eventually, you have a small handful of cases where you have to continue with the official action, whether it is trademark administrative action or some kind of court action, and you follow it through.”


Te effectiveness of litigation may depend on where the action is being taken. Zefo says that cultural attitudes towards intellectual property vary greatly. “Tere may be laws that you can’t quite get the judiciary to follow,” she explains. “Or there may be judiciaries ready and willing to help you protect your IP, but they are [in the process of] craſting the right laws to do it.”


She concludes: “For the most part, litigation is very successful for us. We’re very careful about how we enforce and what we’re enforcing against, and we’re always educating. By the time we reach the litigation stage, we’re in it to win.”


Making a microprocessor manufacturer’s brand so recognisable is no mean feat. It’s largely thanks to a strict trademark policy that enables Intel’s marks to be robustly exploited and protected. But Intel doesn’t sue for the sake of it. Te company tries to explain the effects of trademark infringement to infringers before it involves the courts. Tis can be doubly beneficial to new and emerging companies. Tey can learn how best to avoid potentially costly infringement, and they can learn to develop well-protected and easily recognisable brands of their own.


World Intellectual Property Review March/April 2011 29


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