"I think many leaders simply don't see the data because they don't care to see it."
Lara Pearson Tweet
Lara Pearson is a nature-loving outdoor enthusiast who’s passionate about brands, branding law, and using business to save & heal the world. She’s the Chief Pontificator at Brand Geek where intellectual property law, branding, and values-driven, do-gooder business happily play together. She loves puzzle solving, connecting the dots, and thrives on mutually generous relationships and Wow! experiences.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Lara Pearson: Hi Jed! Thanks for having me here today. I’m Lara. My friends know me as Lara the Lawyer Who Loves Law. I am a trademark attorney and soulfulpreneur, which is my way of saying that I use my business as a force for good in the world, seeking to benefit humanity, while causing as minimal environmental impact as possible (and offsetting that which cannot be avoided). My day-to-day legal work–which I love– consists of everything from IP audits, in which my team and I guide our clients through the process of identifying all of their intangible intellectual property assets, to U.S. and international trademark searches and registration, to commercialization of IP, IP transfers and dispute resolution.
Brand Geek currently has about 900 marks in its docket and we are growing steadily.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Lara Pearson: If 2020 and 2021 taught me anything it’s that patience and persistence pay of, and anything but “NO” means something other than no, so unless/until you hear the words “no” or “no thanks,” keep on working towards whatever it is you are striving for and ultimately you will accomplish it (usually when you get out of your own way). 🙂
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Lara Pearson: Well, Jed, I may be biased, but I think IP protection, is increasingly important, and apparently, so does the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which issued a press release on February 24, 2022 with the headline: “Intellectual Property Drives Economic Prosperity as World Emerges from Pandemic, New Report Shows.” (See article here: https://bit.ly/3KlE397). This begs two questions.
The first is WHY protect ones brands through federal trademark registrations in the geographic locations in which your business sells/distributes its goods/services, to which I have a “Top 10” response:
- Presumption of validity, which shifts the burden of proof to Defendant on issues such as distinctiveness (protectability) of your brand, ownership, first use.
- Nationwide rights without having to prove use nationwide.
- The right to use the “®”, which is like an electric fence around your intangible brand asset, discouraging others from adopting a mark that’s too similar to yours.
- The right to have your mark appear on the Register, making it more likely that a later-comer will discover your prior rights and refrain from adopting a too-similar mark.
- The right to have the Trademark Office cite your mark against later applicants seeking to register too-similar marks.
- Lenders to your business are likely to require a lien on your intellectual property as collateral; without registration, you may not be able to get a loan.
- Prospective business partners, licensees, franchisees, or purchasers of or investors in your business are likely to expect if not require that your trademarks be federally registered.
- Most 3rd party seller and social media website operators require you to prove registration of your mark before they will take down or take action against a posting that infringes your trademark. Trademark protection programs such as the Amazon Brand Registry require a federal registration before they will enroll your trademark in their online protection program.
- Registering your mark entitles you to record the mark with US Customs, to protect against importation of counterfeit goods.
- You provide an opportunity for your trademark attorney to creatively puzzle solve, which is what most of us most love doing.
The second question that clients, even big sophisticated ones, often ask me “WHEN does it make sense to protect my brand(s)?”
At Brand Geek, we have a branded (of course!) two-part test that we call the Tummy Pocketbook testSM. It goes like this: If you saw someone in your industry/field using the same or a similar mark as yours, how would it make your tummy feel? If the answer is queasy, move onto step 2, which asks whether the brand makes your business enough capital to warrant a $2500-$5000 or more expense to protect it. If the brand makes you $732.25 annually, then it probably doesn’t make sense to protect it. If the brand makes you $732,025.00 a year, then you might wanna spend $5k and get it protected nationwide.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Lara Pearson: I have noticed a lot of my counterparts seem kinder and calmer, including those on the other sides of disputes, which is delightful.
I think (hope) people have used the pandemic mandated slow-down to evaluate their lives and reevaluate what’s important and many have discovered that being unpleasant is a waste of time. I am more likely to give my counterparts the benefit of the doubt when/if they interact abrasively with me, rather than thinking they’re simply an a#$, I think they’re likely having a bad day and I approach them with empathy and kindness, which ultimately helps us arrive at a win-win resolution.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Lara Pearson: Don’t freak out! This is not the apocalypse. and even if it is, you can’t stop it, so you may as well go on living (and working) as joyfully and peacefully as possible.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Lara Pearson: I expect that brands will continue to be increasingly important. I expect that people will continue to seek and achieve greater work-life harmony, working when and from where is convenient for them and producing higher quality work because of it.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Lara Pearson: Way too many. I spend 10-14 hours in front of a screen for weeks at a time, and then I also take days and weeks of time away from screens entirely. As much as I love what I do (and I really, really love what I do), I like those days without screen time a whole lot.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Lara Pearson: The stories that I share with my team generally are personal anecdotes of how I learned specific tricks of my trade. For example, I learned to never sign a TM registration application, or other USPTO document on behalf of a client because that makes you a potential witness in litigation when I was subpoenaed in a federal court case in which I had filed a TM registration application on behalf of the Plaintiff.
I also share the stories of my clients so that my team knows the value and impact of the work they are doing not just for the client, but for the client’s stakeholders.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Lara Pearson: For me personally, the greatest challenge is scaling sustainably — not taking on too many obligations and focusing on growing in a way that fully supports both my team and our clients. For the business world at large, the greatest challenge is increasing uncertainty about damn near everything. I think businesses as a whole need to keep on keepin’ on as if the wheels aren’t coming off the bus, rather we’re going to hang on and ride out the bumpiness, as the bumpiest roads always lead to the most beautiful places.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Lara Pearson: I am most interested in learning about law office management, as Brand Geek continues to thrive and my team continues to grow. It’s (not always) easy to manage myself, it’s an entirely new skill set to manage a team of humans accomplishing all the things I used to do on my own. My motivation is the desire to be an exceptional leader with whom people love working. I also want to learn Reiki because I have experienced its healing powers and would like to be able to use it to heal myself and others.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued, and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Lara Pearson: I think many leaders simply don’t see the data because they don’t care to see it. Others see human capital as a commodity. Any leader who thinks that people “should be grateful to work here,” is missing the boat.
Mutual generosity, that’s what employment relationships need to be in order to be successful ~ the employer must be generous in their compensation package as well as in the work environment they provide, be it flex time, benefits, or simply checking in with people on a human level at the start of each interaction, and in turn, leaders will discover that their team members find work enjoyable and rewarding and want to step up and do more for the betterment of themselves and the team as a whole. At least that has been my experience.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Lara Pearson: Three words, Jed: Time Management Mastery!! I imagine that with that superpower, I’d have more consistent daily habits (dare I say a routine?!?) and would accomplish even more, with greater ease.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Lara Pearson: Success in 2022 means continuing to grow the Brand Geek team while expanding the number of soulfulpreneurs whom we serve with worldwide brand protection. It also means deepening our relationship with some of our current clients who are beginning to expand overseas and/or experience infringement here in the U.S. Lastly, in addition to the honor of being featured in ValiantCEO, I also hope to be featured in Rolling Stone®. 🙂
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Lara Pearson for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Lara Pearson or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
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