I. BRAND AS A COMPONENT OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL
A company’s intellectual capital comprises its human capital, organizational structure, and the people and entities it interacts. Thus, intellectual capital components can be divided into three categories: human capital, structural capital, and relational capital (client capital).
Relational (or client) capital refers to a company’s effective use of opportunities and advantages to outperform its rivals in a highly competitive market. Businesses become more efficient by growing their intellectual capital with opportunities arising from these external components.
As a type of relational capital, the brand is an umbrella referring to the characteristics of a product, service, person, or organization, such as image, recognition, reliability, culture, sustainability, reputation, and commitment. Since inventions, utility models, and original designs are considered intellectual property, they need marks to distinguish themselves from competitors to be promoted and sold to customers. These marks, which are essential to businesses, constitute brands. One can think of a brand as the “fingerprint” of a company.
Hence, a brand is “a recognizable mark that distinguishes a company’s products or services from its rivals.”
Aside from their physical and chemical characteristics, products sometimes elicit specific emotional or psychological responses with their brands, which the consumer associates with a corporate identity and image. The position of this image in the consumer’s mind defines the brand’s position regarding competing items. Therefore, a brand is often more than a mere name: it is an identity, an image, or a concept that influences the market position of relevant products.
II. CHARACTERISTICS OF A BRAND
A mark must fulfill the following criteria to be considered a brand:
- Being distinctive,
- Being drawable, and
- Being reproducible via printing.
Person names, words, shapes, letters, and numbers that meet these criteria can be registered as trademarks, and the trademark protection term is ten years from the date of application. The time can be extended indefinitely every ten years with brand renewal.
III. BRAND ELEMENTS
Brand elements are brand names, URLs, logos, symbols, characters, words, slogans, jingles, packaging, and other identifiable marks, which are crucial in providing brand information and conveying messages about the brand to the customer. When these elements are catchy, meaningful, likable, accessible, adaptable, and registrable, the brand is more likely to leave a favorable impression in the customer’s mind.
IV. TYPES OF BRANDS
Brands may be classified into the following categories and sub-types based on their scope, functions, target audience, and lines of business:
Personal Brands: Personal brands are those in which people promote and advertise themselves, their activities, or their services through numerous media.
Product Brands: Product brands refer to packaged consumer products.
Service Brands: Service brands are owned by service providers.
Corporate Brands: Corporate brands refer to an organization’s brand, apart from its products and services.
Image Brands: Image brands provide value by cultivating a particular perception in the minds of their customers.
Luxury Brands: Luxury brands appeal to customers with their exclusive and limited-edition products.
Non-Profit Brands: Non-profit brands are non-commercial brands with a social mission.
Activist Brands: Activist brands captivate consumers with their socially conscious activities.
Place Brands: Place brands are built with efforts to increase the recognition of a city or a region across the world.
Nation Brands: Nation brands refer to all kinds of efforts on a country’s global reputation and perception.
V. TURKISH LAW PROTECTING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF TRADEMARK OWNERS
The Turkish law protecting intellectual property rights on registered and, in rare cases, unregistered trademarks is Industrial Property Law no. 6769 (“SMK”). The Law strictly regulates the rights and obligations arising from trademark registration, and trademark infringement is punishable by severe statutory and criminal penalties.
