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The L+C Blog

The Marketing Agency Roadmap for Turning IP into Money – Part 1: Review Your Assets

In my last post, I discussed the places where ad and marketing agencies might find their intellectual capital, some of which might be converted into additional revenue streams, higher professional fees, or enhanced value to a potential purchaser of the Agency.

Once the Agency has decided to evaluate its intellectual capital, it needs an easy system, or roadmap, to identifying t…

Agency IP? What Agency IP? Five Places to Find Intellectual Property in Your Marketing Agency

Marketing and ad agency leaders are frequently surprised when I tell them that they are probably sitting on a large pile of intellectual property, a lot of it underutilized and most of it unprotected.

Agencies are typically so focused on the ideation and creativity they employ for their clients that they rarely take a breather to think about their own intellectual capital. Or,…

3 Lessons Brandholders Can Learn From Bacardi® About Trademarks

Over the past few days I had the honor of meeting with a group of ad agency owners who are Agency Management Institute members to discuss legal issues in their industry. And, since the agency folks luckily chose Puerto Rico as our meeting destination, my husband and I were able to fit in an enjoyable side trip to the Bacardi ® rum factory outside of Old San Juan for a tour.

The tour of…

What to Do If IP Infringement Happens to You

You’re sailing along on what feels like a perfectly normal Tuesday at the Agency when you get the dreaded call or email that reports one of the following scenarios:

– That prospect? The one you pitched but didn’t convert? They’ve got a brand new campaign and it looks just like Concept #2 from your pitch book.

– Another Agency’s redesigned website looks oddly familiar.

How Not to Get Sued (or Investigated) for False Advertising

In light of the United States Supreme Court’s consideration this week of the Pom Wonderful v. Coca Cola case (you can get up to date information on that case at Ad Age here, or some great background on it from Adweek here ), it feels appropriate to review the best ways to avoid getting into legal trouble due to false advertising claims.

It isn’t just outright lying in advertising…

Content Marketing Done Right(s) – Start Here: Legal Compliance Issues Content Marketers Need to Understand

Content marketing is a rich and diverse medium used by marketers for many purposes – brand development, customer education, thought leadership, lead nurturing, and community building among them.

The legal issues created by content marketing are just as diverse and plentiful as the actual strategies. More importantly, the stakes of making a legal error as you execute your…

Nondisclosure Agreement? No, Thanks…. Protecting Agency IP Without an NDA in New Business

As discussed in our last post about nondisclosure agreements, when developing a new client-Agency relationship, there are several distinct advantages to having an NDA (nondisclosure agreement) before starting with a new client. That is, IF you can get your prospective client to sign one.

But what if your Creative Agency has decided to pursue a new business opportunity without a…

Can You Keep A Secret? Nondisclosure Agreements in the Agency-Client Relationship

Creative agencies such as marketing firms, website developers, and advertising and design groups can often be reluctant to approach the issues of confidentiality and intellectual property rights ownership with prospective business clients. Those who set agency policies may feel that asking for a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) is too off-putting during business development discussions – as…

3 Essential Legal Tools to Manage the Agency Freelance Workforce

Image Courtesy RGB Stock

The use of freelance resources in the marketing world is a time-honored business practice. Sometimes you need freelancers for a specific client, for specific expertise, or to meet a crazy deadline. And increasingly, the industry is seeing the rise of business models like the virtual agency or strategic alliance models – giving creative services firms the flexibility to staff up, staff down,…

On the (Virtual) Road! Guest Posts in the Ad Blog Community

Highway Blur

I’ve been fortunate to be invited to contribute guest legal content recently on several blogs and news outlets important to the ad and marketing communities. To share that information with you, and as a big thank you to my “hosts,” here they are:

For The Agency Post, an interactive publication for ad and marketing professionals (www.theagencypost.com), I drafted a column about current…

Contact

Sharon Toerek
Toerek Law
737 Bolivar Road, Suite 110
Cleveland, Ohio
44115
Call Me: 800.572.1155
Email: sharon@legalandcreative.com

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