Week 11
Coca-Cola: overlapping IP rights
How one famous product is protected by four different IP rights at once.
- Sector
- Food and drink
- Source
- Week 11 lecture example
Open the case fileIntroduction to Intellectual Property Rights · PPTX · 25 slides · 21 MB
The case in brief
The lecture uses Coca-Cola to show that, although IP rights are treated separately in law, they often overlap in practice. Each part of the product’s identity is protected by a different right.
Key facts
As stated in the source.
- Bottle shape
- Protected as a design right
- Coke name
- Registered trade mark
- Product literature
- Protected as copyright
- Formula
- Trade secret
Analysis through module theory
Six types of IP right
Four of the six types apply to one product. The formula is protected as a trade secret, which depends on keeping it confidential; a patent, by contrast, lasts only a limited period, usually 20 years from filing.
Trade mark functions
The Coke name performs all four trade mark functions: it shows origin, promises consistent quality, advertises the product and differentiates it in consumers’ minds.
Discussion questions
Answer from the facts first, then name the theory you are using.
- 1.Which of Coca-Cola’s IP rights would a competitor find hardest to work around, and why?
- 2.Why might a firm choose trade secret protection for a formula instead of a patent?
Takeaways
- IP protection is layered: design, trade mark, copyright and trade secret can all protect one product.
- The HOTTA tutorial answer uses the same logic, protecting a supplier list as a trade secret like the famous example of Coca-Cola’s recipe.