tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post3527902959182658762..comments2024-01-01T00:45:41.758+00:00Comments on Wishful thinking in medical education: NHS Branding and Twitter twibbonsAnne Marie Cunninghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05289974924032448531noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-79330079551584025462012-04-21T19:23:08.271+01:002012-04-21T19:23:08.271+01:00According your link then, yes, it would appear a t...According your link then, yes, it would appear a trademark applies solely to goods and services. Off to explore. And maybe read some of your other blogs. Interesting indeed.Devil's Advocatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04428124504575543623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-39739991130887458582012-04-21T18:17:33.207+01:002012-04-21T18:17:33.207+01:00Sorry I think we are talking at cross purposes. My...Sorry I think we are talking at cross purposes. My understanding is that trademark infringement legislation is to protect a company from competition by a commercial competitor. See:<br />http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/tm/t-other/t-infringe.htm<br />Yes it is about protecting reputation. If a commercial competitor is using your trademark then it may confuse the public and make them think that that competitors services or goods are yours. If those services or goods are poor it may take away from your reputation. <br />Or your competitor may benefit commercially from being using your trademark and hence association with your brand.<br />Do you agree with me that use of the NHS logo for non commercial purposes - and this means projecting the NHS brand in both positive and negative lights- has nothing to do with trademark infringement?Anne Marie Cunninghamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05289974924032448531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-84369156221843133942012-04-21T18:03:12.718+01:002012-04-21T18:03:12.718+01:00Hi, also just to also mention, its about reputatio...Hi, also just to also mention, its about reputation not publicity. PS saw this and thought of you! <br />http://twitpic.com/9cepa5Devil's Advocatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04428124504575543623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-15140482359852799562012-04-21T09:24:46.481+01:002012-04-21T09:24:46.481+01:00I agree, can't go both ways. What is central t...I agree, can't go both ways. What is central to the NHS brand is care free at point of need, with logo primarily signposting patients to services, as well as providing accountability for provision of services. Encroachment of those principles then affects the brand, diluting and eroding what it is used and stands for, ultimately affecting business perception / how audiences engage with that brand. Not about publicity. Publicity may be a side effect or catalyst to brand dilution.Devil's Advocatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04428124504575543623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-31610298316244010492012-04-20T20:25:45.507+01:002012-04-20T20:25:45.507+01:00Hmm I don't think it can go both ways. A comme...Hmm I don't think it can go both ways. A commercial organisation can not protect themselves from negative publicity by dissatisfied customers by saying that they are not allowed to use their logo as it is trademarked. This is my understanding but I might be wrong. So let's look at the bigger picture. Say Virgin starts running a hospital in Bristol. They are allowed to use the NHS logo. If people think the service is bad or are unhappy with the political decision, could they use the NHS logo in campaign materials? Would that be trademark infringement? My understanding is that it would not be. It would be great if someone else could join the discussion to clarify. I'll try and find someone!<br /><br />Next, would use of the brand for that kind of campaign affect negatively on the brand? Yes, possibly. Would it lead to a risk to patient safety? Who knows. The campaigners might think that they were acting in the wider public interest.Anne Marie Cunninghamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05289974924032448531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-39571702965557657962012-04-20T20:05:41.838+01:002012-04-20T20:05:41.838+01:00I'm no legal eagle but suppose it depends on w...I'm no legal eagle but suppose it depends on whether someone / business reaps benefit from misrepresentation / adverse publicity to the NHS, or if that impacts adversely on the brand and consequently services to patients.<br /><br />Public sector branding is never black and white because of the emotional value attached is so much greater than private sector. Can present real conundrum though when you take a step back and look at the bigger picture.Devil's Advocatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04428124504575543623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-35408052178464744072012-04-19T00:15:19.387+01:002012-04-19T00:15:19.387+01:00Not sure how many additional twin ons there are- I...Not sure how many additional twin ons there are- I hunk a few hundred! <br />With regards to a new twibbon- do you think an officially sanctioned one would work? Would it have the sane resonance? This twibbon is of a certain time and place. It's political rather thn just saying, 'I like the NHS'.Anne Marie Cunninghamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05289974924032448531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-19723908658689505032012-04-19T00:05:32.201+01:002012-04-19T00:05:32.201+01:00Hello Devil's Advocate,
Thanks for your commen...Hello Devil's Advocate,<br />Thanks for your comment. I'm not 'staff' as I work in Wales not England. And I make your point about negative use of trademarks a few comments above. But the fact remains that as far as I am aware a company is not allowed to use the trademark legislation to protect themselves from negative publIcity. Do you know different? <br />Thanks for the discussion.Anne Marie Cunninghamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05289974924032448531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-36773604210952394682012-04-18T22:56:15.362+01:002012-04-18T22:56:15.362+01:00Putting the shoe on the other foot: how would you ...Putting the shoe on the other foot: how would you feel if tweeps started to misuse your twibbon?<br /><br />Infringing your brand, denigrating your values, muddying the waters. How? Check it out: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/9207657/Creeping-Sharia-trend-shows-what-Twitter-thinks-of-the-EDL.html<br /><br />Yes I'm being facetious but it shows just how social media can create a groundswell and undermine what it is you are trying to achieve.<br /><br />And if that objective is primarily to signpost patients to services, is it helpful to patients when staff use your brand in a way that is unintended?Devil's Advocatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04428124504575543623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-44738104171569944392012-04-18T22:41:00.129+01:002012-04-18T22:41:00.129+01:00AnneMarie,
Thanks for writing it up, as it has pr...AnneMarie,<br /><br />Thanks for writing it up, as it has provoked an interesting discussion.<br /><br />To answer your questions, it would be good to have a new twiboon, just because my twitter profile could do with a change ;)<br /><br />On a more serious note, it sounds like this incident has given the I Love NHS twibbon more and good publicity (if it wasn't the NHS I would have speculated if it had been deliberate). Anyhow, I wonder how many people have adopted the twibbon due to this incident?Salma Patelhttp://salmapatel.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-84973385408593514962012-04-18T11:43:15.896+01:002012-04-18T11:43:15.896+01:00Well, one good thing has happened.
The NHSTA http...Well, one good thing has happened. <br />The NHSTA http://www.nhstadirectory.org/ which used to have the blue NHS logo on their website seems to have lost it.<br />Although you still get CAM practitioners referring to it as the 'NHS Directory', e.g. http://www.lucilleleader.com/deevybeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15118040887173718391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-62107303430755913742012-04-18T10:48:11.994+01:002012-04-18T10:48:11.994+01:00Thanks- @anon Yes NHS is a trademark- not only the...Thanks- @anon Yes NHS is a trademark- not only the logo but the word NHS is a trademark as far as I know. http://www.dnforum.com/f26/can-trademark-holder-seize-my-domain-if-i-own-good-faith-thread-350227.html#post1647875<br /><br />But my understanding is that because something is trademarked it doesn't stop others using it for non-commercial purposes. <br /><br />In this case the story is positive about the NHS, unless the DH did not want to be associated with a campaign supporting a health service funded through general taxation and free at the point of use! But what would happen if the NHS logo was used in other ways. For example, in the recent campaigns around the NHS Act, if someone was using the NHS logo in campaign material would that be infringement of trademark? I don't think so as it would be a non-commercial use. But I'm not an expert so I don't know.<br /><br />Would it be an infringement of copyright? Interestingly this Wikipedia entry suggests that the NHS logo is so simple that it does not meet the threshold for copyright and should have a commons license. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NHS-logo.jpg <br />However, my understanding is that in the UK there is a much lower threshold for originality justifying copyright than in the US. So it may very well be subject to copyright in the UK. So if it was being used in a negative way perhaps the DH would challenge over copyright rather than trademark.<br /><br />But yes, Trisha's suggestion is growing on me!Anne Marie Cunninghamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05289974924032448531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-21639925592471772452012-04-18T10:43:05.272+01:002012-04-18T10:43:05.272+01:00What a waste of time by some bureaucrat!
The NHS ...What a waste of time by some bureaucrat!<br /><br />The NHS Alliance uses it and they don't provide services, apart from being cheerleaders for Lansley and for quackery.David Colquhounhttp://dcscience.net/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-58528386210922516902012-04-18T10:33:08.951+01:002012-04-18T10:33:08.951+01:00Don't we need a redesign anyway? "I loveD...Don't we need a redesign anyway? "I loveD the NHS"?racheinderbyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07495254976960690782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-74477018561153824862012-04-18T10:32:19.311+01:002012-04-18T10:32:19.311+01:00Interesting post! I would hate to think that the N...Interesting post! I would hate to think that the NHS brand could be used by unqualified quacks to promote 'treatments' or 'services' which were not evidence based or within NHS guidelines, so I understand the need for stringent brand management. However, to ask for the 'I love the NHS' Twibbon to be removed is rather strange, as its about supporting our healthcare services. Perhaps Trish is right and we should have a CC licensed new 'I love the NHS' logo :)Suzanne Hardyhttp://www.medev.ac.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149957315810348152.post-77838537855764362922012-04-18T10:12:45.212+01:002012-04-18T10:12:45.212+01:00Is NHS a trademark? Is it a brand? I though it was...Is NHS a trademark? Is it a brand? I though it was a National Health Service! Although perhaps the DH are keen to protect it ahead of using it on the letterheads of private companies to lull the public into a false sense of security over impending privatisation of many NHS services. Perhaps it's more like 'National Express' or 'National Lotter' now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com