Many design-driven businesses may be missing valuable insight into what their competitors are doing. Visitor tracking software is available with reports highlighting not only how often the business’ website has been accessed but by whom.
Such reports are of interest to the computer geeks in the IT department who are heard muttering phrases such as “search engine optimisation” and “metatags”. Those same reports can however give invaluable insight into not only who your potential new customers are but also whether there are competitors who are checking out what your business is doing.
In cases where an (often cheaper) lookalike product appears on the market, the fact that a rival manufacturer can be seen to have spent a significant period of time accessing your website and looking at the page for your original design can give rise to an irresistible inference that the competitor concerned had the intention and opportunity to copy your design.
So it is worthwhile obtaining reports on website visitors and sharing them with the design and marketing branches of your business. A name on the report that may mean nothing to the Head of IT could well be very significant to the design team and mean that a routine report proves very valuable if you need to take action to stop copying of your original designs.
For guidance on this and other ways to protect your intellectual property against unfair competition and passing off contact Tony Catterall, Head of the Intellectual Property Team at Taylors, on 01254 297900 or via email at tony.catterall@taylors.co.uk. Taylors is the only North West based firm to have been appointed as a legal affiliate to the National organisation Anti Copying In Design (“ACID”). |
