Andrei Mincov

Yeah. Coca-Cola is literally one of my favorite examples. I will remember it by already waking me up in the middle of the night, I'll tell you. They trademarked their brand back in 1892, which is incidentally the year when they just set up a company and when they were selling nine drinks a day.

Yeah. Coca-Cola is literally one of my favorite examples. I will remember it by already waking me up in the middle of the night, I'll tell you. They trademarked their brand back in 1892, which is incidentally the year when they just set up a company and when they were selling nine drinks a day.

I call it a lemonade stand with a dream because all they had is this idea that, hey, if we are going to spend any time, money, and effort trying to build those into... a brand, a national brand, we might as well own it. And trademarks is the only type of intellectual property that you can own forever in theory. Copyrights expire, patents expire, design patents, everything expires.

I call it a lemonade stand with a dream because all they had is this idea that, hey, if we are going to spend any time, money, and effort trying to build those into... a brand, a national brand, we might as well own it. And trademarks is the only type of intellectual property that you can own forever in theory. Copyrights expire, patents expire, design patents, everything expires.

Trademarks, you can renew and renew and renew. So they've been renewing that same trademarks since 1892. And I can bet that there was a lot of people back there who looked at them and said, why are you – bothering spending money on lawyers to trademark this stuff. It's just a drink.

Trademarks, you can renew and renew and renew. So they've been renewing that same trademarks since 1892. And I can bet that there was a lot of people back there who looked at them and said, why are you – bothering spending money on lawyers to trademark this stuff. It's just a drink.

Now this brand is worth $80 billion, just the brand itself, not their factories, not their trucks, not their bottles, not their recipe, just the brand itself. And whatever they paid their lawyers back in 1892, it's probably the best return on investment they've had ever. Right. Yeah, for sure.

Now this brand is worth $80 billion, just the brand itself, not their factories, not their trucks, not their bottles, not their recipe, just the brand itself. And whatever they paid their lawyers back in 1892, it's probably the best return on investment they've had ever. Right. Yeah, for sure.

The more recent one, which really highlights the value of getting it done right and early, there's this startup called Bird, the electric scooters. You see them everywhere. They were, back in 2021, recognized as the fastest company to grow to a billion-dollar valuation. They knew a thing or two about building a successful business.

The more recent one, which really highlights the value of getting it done right and early, there's this startup called Bird, the electric scooters. You see them everywhere. They were, back in 2021, recognized as the fastest company to grow to a billion-dollar valuation. They knew a thing or two about building a successful business.

So what they did is they started the company and 13 days later, after they started the company, they filed their trademark. Before they launched, before they had their first scooter made, before they, like, I don't know if they had an office back in the day or not, 13 days. Again, because they asked themselves a question, will the brand be important to us if we are to become successful?

So what they did is they started the company and 13 days later, after they started the company, they filed their trademark. Before they launched, before they had their first scooter made, before they, like, I don't know if they had an office back in the day or not, 13 days. Again, because they asked themselves a question, will the brand be important to us if we are to become successful?

And the answer to that was, of course, because if anyone can put a scooter and put the same brand on it, we can't have a viable business model because people are going to be confused and they can't operate like this. And so they said, yeah, brand is going to be important. We want to build it into something that will become big. And so they went and trademarked it.

And the answer to that was, of course, because if anyone can put a scooter and put the same brand on it, we can't have a viable business model because people are going to be confused and they can't operate like this. And so they said, yeah, brand is going to be important. We want to build it into something that will become big. And so they went and trademarked it.

And now it's part of the billion dollar valuation.

And now it's part of the billion dollar valuation.

Yeah, I was born in Russia. You can probably hear it from my accent. You know, I try to not use it too much. But I was born there and I went to my first law school there. And I really didn't see myself as a lawyer. But one day, my dad was a famous composer there, Mark Minkov. He saw on the radio, and it wasn't just played as a song. It was played to advertise an event by Samsung.

Yeah, I was born in Russia. You can probably hear it from my accent. You know, I try to not use it too much. But I was born there and I went to my first law school there. And I really didn't see myself as a lawyer. But one day, my dad was a famous composer there, Mark Minkov. He saw on the radio, and it wasn't just played as a song. It was played to advertise an event by Samsung.

Nobody ever asked him if he was okay with that. Nobody ever asked him if he'd like to be paid for that. And so he called the radio station. And said, you guys can take my music and use it as you please. And they told him that they were making him even more famous and that he should just sit down and shut up.

Nobody ever asked him if he was okay with that. Nobody ever asked him if he'd like to be paid for that. And so he called the radio station. And said, you guys can take my music and use it as you please. And they told him that they were making him even more famous and that he should just sit down and shut up.