Known by most people around the world, Netflix needs no introduction. The statistics about the company’s success speak for themselves; with more than 238 million paid memberships in around 190 countries, its annual revenue in 2021 in the UK alone was £1.4 billion.

Alongside this increasing brand recognition and uptake in memberships, Netflix has developed an impressive intellectual property (or IP) portfolio, which only strengthens its business model further. Regardless of whatever industry you work in, there are lessons to be learned from their trade mark strategy…

1. Adapt to change

Not many people know that in its early days in 1997, Netflix was an online movie rental-by-post company. Unlike its competitors, most notably Blockbuster, Netflix managed to be ahead of the curve by switching to streaming services when DVDs became obsolete.

In 2013, Netflix increased its offering by producing series and movies itself, such as House Of Cards and Orange Is The New Black. With the success of such series and movies, Netflix now has both a production and streaming presence worldwide.

All of these business model shifts and expansions into new industry sectors created gaps in their trade mark protection. Gaps that Netflix quickly spotted and rectified by increasing their level of protection.

They increased the number of classes they protected their trade marks in to include video on demand services as well as film production, as they pivoted away from DVD rental. They also protected their brand by filing trade marks in new countries where their streaming services were provided. This will have been a major investment given the significant reach of the brand globally, but a necessary one nevertheless.

Stay ahead of the game, adapt to the societal changes around you and identify what markets you want to enter. This will allow you to protect your brand effectively and avoid potential trade mark trolls and other bumps in the road.

2. Protect your most valuable assets

From day one, Netflix filed trade mark applications to protect its name. But this is not the only mark they have got covered. They are aware that other elements of their branding can also be an asset. They have filed trade marks for their distinctive red capital N for a variety of goods and services. They have also filed the very distinctive sound you hear when you open Netflix on your laptop or TV (“TUDUM”), both as a word and a sound!  

Of course, the budget that Netflix has for protecting their intellectual property will be much higher now than it was when they first started. However, investing in IP protection as soon as you anticipate expanding your offering is a sound move. Stobbs can advise you how to protect your brand in the most effective way, bearing in mind your expanding markets as well as your current reach.

3. Plan for potential successes ahead of time

Before launching any new series or movies which could be a success, Netflix files a trade mark. We recommend following in their footsteps and doing the same for any goods and services of interest to you to avoid the risk of trade mark trolls / squatters.

Netflix does not only register content names for film and TV services. They often also cover stationery, clothing, games and toys as well for their original productions. They might not be selling these goods at the time of registering the trade marks, but they can license these trade marks out to specialised companies for merchandising opportunities and gain an additional revenue stream.

For example, they filed the trade mark SQUID GAME in word and logo form  and we now see lots of stationery and t-shirts displaying SQUID GAME on the market.

Planning ahead, being ready to tackle potential counterfeit products and arranging licensing deals can be crucial to launching your product in the most effective way. Stobbs can advise on all stages of this process, with our in-house licensing expertise and our partnership with the specialist licensing agency LMCA.

4. Think about foreign languages and alphabets

Sticking with the example of SQUID GAME, Netflix also filed the same trade mark in Korean .

It is very important to think about your audience and how you can protect your trade mark in the various alphabets that are used where your product(s) will be sold.

5. Defend your rights

Defending your legal rights is crucial to ensuring your brand is not harmed or diluted by infringers. The bigger your company and brand gets, the more third parties are likely to want to ride on the coat-tails of your reputation and take unfair advantage of your brand.

Netflix has been the opponent in dozens of tribunal proceedings in the UK and EU. One noteworthy example is that a third party filed a trade mark application for WEEDFLIX in the same font as the NETFLIX logo. Other notable examples include NUTFLIX, MEDFLIX and LEARNFLIX.

To make sure you are always alert to third parties’ trade mark applications, we recommend subscribing to a trade mark watch service. By doing so, you will be made aware of similar trade mark applications from third parties. Stobbs can set up the watch for you, filter the results to find what matters to you, help you decide whether to take action to protect your brand, and how if so.

Defending your rights does not stop with the trade mark register. Copycats are now ever-present online, and an online brand enforcement strategy is also advisable. The Online Brand Protection offering at Stobbs can help you navigate detecting and preventing damaging and unfair use of your brand online by infringers.