Real-Life Math
Intellectual property lawyers face the challenge of trying to place
a value on something that often can't be defined. As a result, they need to
use good math skills to prove their arguments.
Take a shot at this
math problem you could very well encounter as an IP lawyer.
You are
an intellectual property lawyer. You work for an international beverage company.
About two years ago, your company's marketing department came up with a slogan:
Drink It and Be Happy! The slogan was properly trademarked.
A year
later, another beverage company began running commercials with the slogan:
Drink It and You'll Be Glad!
Your marketing department called you in
to start legal action. You agree to file an action. You need to come up with
a dollar amount to sue the other company for.
You come up with the
following information:
In 2012 (the year before the Be Happy
slogan was used), total sales were: $120 million
In 2013 (the first year
of the Be Happy slogan), total sales were: $177 million
In 2014, total
sales were: $181 million
You are reluctant to attribute the
entire increase in sales to the Be Happy slogan. You do some research and
find that leading marketing experts say that as much as 55 percent of year-to-year
sales increases can be attributed to a single marketing program.
Those
same experts also say that increases can last up to four years before the
effect of the campaign wears off.
You decide to average the increase
over the two years (2013 compared to 2012 and 2014 compared to 2012).
You also use the 55 percent rule. Then you'll figure out the entire four-year
increase in sales.
How much will you tell the court the theft of the
property could have cost your company?