The Brand Tuned Program
How to create a distinctive, protectable brand that stands out for the long term — by using intellectual property effectively.
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WHAT IS THE
Brand Tuned Program?
Most businesses treat branding and IP as separate disciplines. Designers handle the visuals. Lawyers handle the trademarks. Neither is trained in what the other does — and that gap is where brands get into trouble.
The Brand Tuned Program closes that gap. It's a multimedia toolkit created by Shireen Smith — IP lawyer, author, and founder of Azrights — covering the intellectual property principles behind brand creation and brand management.
Across 8 milestones you'll learn how trademarks, copyright, patents, and design rights shape every branding decision — from choosing a name to building brand guidelines that actually protect your assets.
The content is relevant to an international audience. It covers IP principles, not country-specific legal detail.
Who is this for?
The program is designed for anyone involved in creating or managing brands:
Marketers and brand managers who want to understand IP
Designers and creatives who work on brand identities
Business owners and founders building or rebranding
IP lawyers who want to understand the branding side
Brand consultants, creative advisers and strategists
CEOs and team leaders making brand decisions
If you choose names, oversee brand creation, or advise on brand strategy — this program gives you the knowledge you are currently missing.
8 on-demand milestones in short video
Certificate of completion + CPD points
BThe IP knowledge that lawyers and marketers don't teach each other
How distinctiveness affects your name, logo, colours, fonts, taglines, and sounds
How copyright, trademarks, patents, and designs create barriers to competition
How to choose names that are right for your venture — and which names to avoid
Step-by-step video guides: trademark searches, classification, and image searches
What’s included in each milestone?
Each milestone comprises a number of micro learning videos and audios of up to 15 or 20 minutes each for easier learning. There are quizzes throughout the program as well as additional resources to delve deeper into topics such as further reading, or podcasts to listen to.
Milestone 1
THE WHAT AND WHY OF BRANDS
Origins of branding. Definitions of brand. What’s involved to create the brand strategy of a start-up and an established brand. Why it matters to raise awareness of a brand’s existence. The foundation of any brand is its identify and reputation. Brands save us time, so we don’t need to expend mental effort deciding what to buy. Distinguish IP principles from IP law.
Milestone 2
THINK IP FIRST
What IP means. Why it matters. How it works internationally. Introduction to the IP rights: copyright, trademarks, patents, designs , and their impact on business design. Overview of confidentiality and why keep ideas secret. Why it matters that IP is property. Managing competition using IP. Role of NDAs. Trade secret case examples. How IP rights create essential barriers to entry.
Milestone 3
WHAT COPYRIGHT PROTECTS
Copyright protects an extensive range of works. It’s the expression of ideas not ideas themselves that are protected though. The default rules and copyright ownership. Copyright is separate from the physical object to which it is attached. Licensing as an alternative to assignment. The need to train team members.
Milestone 4
HOW PATENTS AND DESIGNS IMPACT INNOVATION
Trade secrecy as an alternative to patenting. Importance of keeping patentable ideas secret. How and why do research to decide if costs of patenting are justified. Designs and Patents protect different things and often go together. Anywayup non-spill cup case study. Raising investment. Patents protect differentiation. Use the time to become known.
Milestone 5
TRADEMARK REGISTRATION
Trademarks are designations of origin. They contain the value of a brand. Essentials to understand about trademarks before choosing names. How trademarks work internationally. The classification system is why names like POLO can be shared by different brands. Use it or Lose it. Apple, MacDonalds and Lacoste cases. The need for a trademark strategy.
Milestone 6
BRAND ARCHITECTURE: BUSINESS, PRODUCT AND PERSONAL NAMES
What are branded house, house of brands, sub-brands and endorsed brands? How Proctor & Gamble, Unilever and Coca Cola’s approach to brand architecture has changed. Why that matters when choosing names. Pros and cons of naming a business after the founder. Own name defence.
Milestone 7
NAMING
The name is the most important decision a business makes. It must be unique in the category. What are descriptive names and why they should be avoided when choosing the brand name. Legal concept of distinctiveness. The 6 kinds of name. Taglines and slogans. ‘How to’ video instructions to identify trademark classifications, and do international searches. Brand and line extensions.
Milestone 8
DISTINCTIVENESS
How differentiation and distinctiveness differ. How brands grow and Ehrenberg Bass. Daniel Kahneman. How our brains work. System 1 makes 95% of decisions. Yet the industry focuses all its attention on system 2 issues such as differentiation. Coca Cola bottle, Adidas and Tropicana case studies. Colour and sound marks. How and when to do predesign image searches.
Take a Peek on the Inside
Stay up to date!
Subscribe to the TUNED Newsletter for monthly branding and intellectual property insights from Shireen Smith.
Need hands-on trademark or IP help?
The Brand Tuned Program gives you the knowledge. For professional trademark registration, IP audits, and brand naming services, get in touch with Azrights — the IP law firm behind Brand Tuned.
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