After facing some initial problems in obtaining a new lemon supply, your brother

Question

After facing some initial problems in obtaining a new lemon supply, your brother’s lemonade business has really taken off. Some local grocery stores now want to sell his lemonade in bottles at their stores. While you previously were under the impression that the only ingredients in his lemonade were lemon juice and sugar, you recently find out that there is actually a secret blend of spices and natural sweeteners in his lemonade that give it a unique flavor.

You are proud of your brother and happy that you have been able to give him some solid legal advice; but you have probably come to realize at this point that the more a business grows, the more legal challenges it may face. As a protective older sibling, you have become worried that others may take advantage of your brother’s success. More specifically, you want your brother to take steps to protect his valuable lemonade know-how from competitors. Furthermore, you also want your brother’s business to have some minimal level of insurance to protect against new risks that a larger size business may face.

What kind of protection should your brother try to obtain for his lemonade recipe – a patent or some form of trade secret protection? How should your brother go about obtaining this protection?

Your brother’s lemonade stands only have a sign saying “Lemonade Stand”, and he wants the lemonade bottles sold in grocery stores to have a label saying “Fresh Squeezed Lemonade” on them. In your opinion, will your brother be able to get trademark protection for “Lemonade Stand” or “Fresh Squeezed Lemonade”? Why or why not? If not, give some examples of alternative trademarks that he might be able to get protection for.

Your brother has enough income from his business to be able to afford one or two types of insurance. What kind of insurance do you think would offer him the best protection against lawsuits? Explain your reasoning

Explanation / Answer

1. A patent protection would be good for the business as in case of trade secret by reverse engineering one could still his technique which is not the case with patent protection.

2. Brand name and logos can be protected through trademark. He might not get trademark for lemonade stand or fresh lemonade as one is common and other one is not representing the correct fact about brand because he uses additives. The brand name could be easy peesy lemonade as these are attractive and would be registered in trademark.

3. Professional liability insurance, Product liability insurance. Business interruption insurance would offer him the best protection against lawsuits.

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