Ashley Dobbs, an intellectual property attorney, presented keys ways to protect your most valuable asset, your reputation, in the age of electronic media to the Arlington Chamber of Commerce in July 2013.

1. Five Ways to Protect the
Online Reputation of
Your Business
Ashley R. Dobbs
(703) 526-4701
adobbs@beankinney.com
2300 Wilson Boulevard, 7th Floor
Arlington, VA 22201
www.beankinney.com

2. Ashley R. Dobbs
Shareholder at Bean, Kinney, and Korman P.C.

15 years as business and brand
marketing consultant …
… and Cruise Director
 8 years in legal practice
 Lead BKK’s Intellectual
Property practice group:
advertising, marketing,
brand protection,
trademark, copyright,
licensing (data, software,
trademark, content),
sponsorship &
merchandising contracts,
internet
 Clients include businesses
and ad and PR agencies

3. Overview
 What’s your brand worth to you?
 What’s the risk to your business reputation from
the “wild, wild west” of the online world?
 Five ways to protect that reputation
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Protect
Monitor (good web hygiene)
Enforce (smack-down and clean-up)
Follow the “Golden Rule” (don’t steal stuff)
Choose your battles wisely (online reviews)

4. What is a Brand?




Company image
Logo / name
Promise or unique value proposition
Customers' experience and
expectations when doing business with
your company

5. Why Does Your Brand Matter?
 Rapid identification in a
faster world
 Create customer loyalty
 Align and inspire employees
 Position to sell, franchise,
license and expand

6. Why Does Your Brand Matter
Online?
 85% of executives use social media during a purchase
decision (Forrester research)
 Consumer reviews are significantly more trusted — nearly
12 times more –than descriptions that come from
manufacturers. (eMarketer, February 2010)
 53% of people on Twitter recommend companies and/or
products in their Tweets, with 48% of them delivering on
their intention to buy the product. (ROI Research for
Performance, June 2010)
 The average consumer mentions specific brands over 90
times per week in conversations with friends, family, and
co-workers. (Keller Fay, WOMMA, 2010)
Source: reviewpro.com

7. What’s Your Brand and
Business Reputation Worth?
 What if you lost …
 30% of your product sales to
counterfeiters?
 Existing customers?
 Your pipeline of future customers?
 Your entire advertising and brand
marketing budget for the year?
 Revenue from your content?

8. What’s the Worst that Could
Happen?





Deceitful paid search ads
Misleading websites, diverted traffic
Lost sales, counterfeit goods
Damaged reputation
Study of sports jerseys – looking at one
league, 28% of ads were suspicious, with
11 million annual visits redirected from
legitimate seller to probable counterfeiters

9. What Can You Do About It?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Protect
Monitor
Enforce
Follow the “Golden Rule”
Choose your battles wisely

10. Protect
How do You Protect Your Brand?
 ORIGINAL WORKS ©
 NAMES ®
 SLOGANS ™

11. Protect
 Ensure and secure ownership with work for
hire agreements with independent contractors
and license agreements with trademark users
 Use ® and © and TM
 Use defensive strategies:
 Watermarks
 Widgets / java script
 Low res images
Source: istockphoto.com

12. Monitor
 Practice good web hygiene




Google® alerts and simple searches
News media, social mention apps, etc.
More complicated automated search options
Brand monitoring services
 Establish a baseline
 Implement routine searches and maintain
records
 Dedicated responsibility with a strategic plan,
not haphazard

13. Enforce
 Be willing and able to enforce your
rights against domain name squatters,
misleading key word and paid
advertising, and other infringers
 “Cease and Desist” Letters
 UDRP Complaints
 DMCA takedown notices
 Focus on actual infringement

14. Follow the Golden Rule
 Respect others’ copyrights and
intellectual property
 Educate your marketing team
 Written agreements with photographers
& website developers
 Pay licensing fees or use free stock
photos

15. Don’t Sweat the
Small Stuff:
Kitchen and PR
Nightmares
Source: eater.com
Source:
buzzfeed.com

16. Choose Your Battles Wisely :
Online Reviews
Free speech vs. defamation (opinion vs. facts)
Anonymity and free speech (Yelp subpoenas)
DMCA protects hosting sites, not individual posters
Double-edged sword – the “Streisand Effect”
Personal, timely responses and excellent customer services
Business ways to beat bad news: online reputation services,
increased coverage of other items, blogging, updating your
website, press releases, ask good customers to post with
positive reviews
 BUT no “sock-puppets” or “astroturfing”!







17. “Regard your good name as the
richest jewel you can possibly be
possessed of -- for credit is like fire;
when once you have kindled it you
may easily preserve it, but if you once
extinguish it, you will find it an
arduous task to rekindle it again.”
― Socrates

18. Ashley R. Dobbs, Esquire
Bean, Kinney & Korman, P.C.
2300 Wilson Boulevard, 7th Floor
Arlington, Virginia 22201
703-526-4701
adobbs@beankinney.com
www.beankinney.com