INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

(IPR)
ASSIGNMENT 3

TOPIC :IP Rights on Coco-Cola Beverage.

Submitted to: Mr. Sumit Kumar Submitted by: Abhilipsa Nanda

Asst. Professor Bhaskar Raj

NIFT Bhubaneswar Kaustub Bramachari

Nikita Ratish
 HISTORY OF COCA-COLA

•Invented by Dr John Pemberton, Coca-Cola Classic first went on sale at Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta,

Georgia. It was actually Dr Pemberton’s bookkeeper, Frank Mason Robinson, who invented the now
world famous red-and-white logo with its special Spencerian script.

•Coca-Cola history began in 1886 when the curiosity of an Atlanta pharmacist, Dr. John S. Pemberton,
led him to create a distinctive tasting soft drink that could be sold at soda fountains. He created a
flavored syrup, took it to his neighborhood pharmacy, where it was mixed with carbonated water and
deemed “excellent” by those who sampled it. Dr. Pemberton’s partner and bookkeeper, Frank M.
Robinson, is credited with naming the beverage “Coca‑Cola” as well as designing the trademarked,
distinct script, still used today.

•Coca-Cola Classic arrived in Great Britain in 1900, when Charles Candler brought a jug of syrup with
him on a visit to England. Later, in the early 1920s, it went on sale in Selfridges and at the London
Coliseum.

•Coca-Cola was first offered as a fountain beverage at Jacob's Pharmacy by mixing Coca-Cola syrup
with carbonated water.
   FACTS ABOUT COCA-COLA
•In India, Coca-Cola was the leading soft-drink till 1977 when the government policies necessitated its
departure. Coca-Cola made its return to the country in 1993 and made significant investments to ensure that
the beverage is available to more and more people, even in the remote and inaccessible parts of the nation.

•Coca-Cola was patented in 1887, registered as a trademark in 1893 and by 1895 it was being sold in every
state and territory in the United States.

In 1899, The Coca-Cola Company began franchised bottling operations in the United States and in 1906
bottling operations for Coca-Cola began to expand internationally.

•Coca-Cola Classic is the world’s favourite soft drink and has been enjoyed since 1886. Whether you want a
small 250ml can or a large 1.75 litre bottle for sharing, you can find Coca-Cola Classic in a variety of sizes to
suit every lifestyle and occasion

•The known and major ingredients of the Coca-Cola beverage are Carbonated water, sugar, acidity regulator
(338), caffeine. CONTAINS PERMITTED NATURAL COLOUR (150d) AND ADDED FLAVOURS (NATURAL
FLAVOURING SUBSTANCES).
INGREDIENTS:
 COPYRIGHT
•Copyright refers to the legal right of the owner of intellectual property. In simpler terms, copyright is the right to
copy.

• This means that the original creator of a product and anyone he gives authorization to are the only ones with the
exclusive right to reproduce the work.

• Copyright law gives creators of original material, the exclusive right to further develop them for a given amount
of time, at which point the copyrighted item becomes public domain.

•Under copyright law, a work is considered original if the author created it from independent thinking void of
duplication. This type of work is known as Original Work of Authorship (OWA).

•Brand names, logos, slogans, domain names and titles also cannot be protected under copyright law. For an
original work to fall under creation, it has to be in tangible form.
 CONTENT AVAILABLE ON THE SITE.  
•Coca-Cola may make available via the Site content, including (but not limited to) information, comments,
reviews and other texts, photos, pictures and other images, films, movies, music and other audio files, software,
applications or games (together referred to as “Content”).

•Coca-Cola’s affiliated entities and/or our licensors own all Content made available through the Site. 

• Such Content is subject to copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights and laws.  Unless
expressly stated otherwise, you may not reproduce, modify, disseminate or otherwise exploit our Content in any
way or form without our prior express approval. 

•In addition, you acknowledge that the Site itself is protected by copyright law.  You further acknowledge
that Coca-Cola owns the trademarks “Coca-Cola”, “Coke” and all associated Coca-Cola trade names, service
marks and logos.

 
• All other trademarks used on the Site are the property of their respective owners.  Coca-
Cola trademarks and Coca-Cola logos may only be used in conjunction with goods produced
by Coca-Cola or with the express prior approval of Coca-Cola.  For the avoidance of doubt,
the Coca-Cola corporate logo may only be used by Coca-Cola.

•Sometimes, we may make certain Content available to you for specific limited uses, such as for
you to download or otherwise reproduce such Content.  We will expressly state to which
Content such permitted uses apply and what the specific terms of use are for that Content.  

•Those specific terms of use may place restrictions on your use of the Content, including (but
not limited to) the number of times you can download the Content, what you may use the
Content for and with how many devices you may access the Content. 

• Prior to accessing such Content on the Site, you may be asked to affirmatively agree with the
specific terms of use applicable to the Content.
 PATENT
A patent is a limited right granted by the government to an inventor. Once an
inventor has obtained a patent from the government, he or she has the sole right to
make, use, sell, and licence out that invention for twenty years, after which the
invention can be used by anyone.
The Coca-Cola company owns a patent on a method of making “barrier coated
plastic containers.” Obviously no one has the exclusive right to make plastic
containers, but Coca-Cola has the exclusive right to use the particular method of
making those containers that they describe in their patent.
THE COCA-COLA "CONTOUR" BOTTLE
DESIGN PATENT
• This is the design patent for Coca-Cola's classic "Contour" bottle, or
"Hobble skirt" bottle, from 1915 - one of the first glass containers ever to
be patented based only on its unique shape.

• In 1916, Coca-Cola debuted the patented bottle which would help

distinguish them from competitors.

• Though the Coke bottle's design patent term ended after 14 years, its
image would forever live on as a representative of Coca-Cola's renowned
brand, and as the most recognized container in the history of the world.
• In 1916, Coca-Cola debuted the patented bottle which would help distinguish
them from competitors.

• Though the Coke bottle's design patent term ended after 14 years, its image
would forever live on as a representative of Coca-Cola's renowned brand, and
as the most recognized container in the history of the world.
THE FIRST PATENTED BOTTLE OF COCA COLA
COCA-COLA BOTTLE PATENT TURNS 100
The original Coca-Cola bottle was patented 100 years ago, marking the beginning
of a century of innovations on the packaging around the iconic beverage. The
bottling giant has patented since 1976, the earliest date when the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office records are digitized.
THE COCA-COLA BOTTLE

• Not only have they patented bottles, but they have patented cups for their beverages
as well. 

• Some of the cups feature locking mechanisms and “negative draft sealing surfaces.” Some of
their innovative designs include a carry strap attached to the top of the bottle near the cap
and a bottle that has a push button dispenser for carbonated beverages.
 TRADE SECRET:
• The scope of trade secrets is much wider compared to that of
patents. There is a qualitative test for patent protection but any
information which is not known to the general public and is of
advantage for the business can be protected as trade secrets.
• Although Article 39 of the TRIPS Agreement 1995 set out
international standards, for protecting trade secrets, were
established, yet patent holds more statutory legal protection.
• Unlike patent laws, there is no need to file any application to
any government office for keeping a trade secret as it requires
less legal formalities. But the company must follow certain
rules.
 COCA-COLA’S SECRET FORMULA: A TRADE SECRET
KEPT FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY
• A safely guarded recipe, which produced a distinctive and refreshing soft drink, turned Coca-Cola into
a billion-dollar company.

• The whole business of this company centered around it’s unique recipe.

• Thus the company gave tremendous effort in keeping this recipe a secret and till now it is one of the
closely guarded and best kept secret in business world.

• Coca-Cola company instead of using patent legislation to protect its business interest, opted for trade
secret protection and decided to keep the recipe of their product as a secret to safeguard its
advantage over other competitors. And this brilliant idea turned the fortunes of the company in a way
that very few could have predicted at the time.
Coca-Cola company put in a lot of effort to keep the formula a secret. One rumor has it
that only two Coca-Cola executives know the beverage’s secret formula at a time but
each knows only the half and they are never allowed to travel in the same plane.

Although the Coca-Cola company have not revealed the number of people that know
their secret formula but keeping in mind the amount of production they make, it is
unlikely that only two people knows this secret at the same time.
 HOW IS IT KEPT A SECRET:

• From the outset the formula was shared with only a small group and it was never written down. It was
only when Ernest Woodruff and a group of investors purchased the company from Candler and his
family in 1919, Woodruff insisted Candler’s son to write down the formula so that he could use it as
collateral for a loan arrangement.

• The written formula was placed in the Guaranty Bank’s vault in New York until the loan was repaid. Then
in 1925 Coca-Cola placed the secret formula in a vault at SunTrust Bank.

• To keep SunTrust on the side, Coke gave them some 48.3 million shares of stock as well as having
executives from each company sit on the other's board of directors.

• And in December 2011, at the occasion of its 125th anniversary, the vault was moved to World of Coca-
Cola at Atlanta, where it can be viewed by the public in a permanent exhibit.
• All of this is pointless in the end. Coca-Cola still derives some of its flavor from the coca plant; the
same place that cocaine comes from.

• Due to the obvious drug related issues that would arise from importing lots of coca plant into
America legally, only one company has government permission to do it. That company is Coca-
Cola.

• So even if someone broke into the bank and managed to take the formula, they would never be
able to produce an exact Coke rip-off.
REASON WHY TRADE SECRET WAS CHOSEN:
• The logic behind ignoring patent protection was that if patented, it would have got the protection
for only 17 years under the Patent Act of 1836 (35 U.S. Code) which was only extended to 20
years in 1995 under The Uruguay Round Agreements Act for bringing conformity with the TRIPs
agreement.

• But trade secrets can be held for eternity. In addition, in case of patent protection a detailed
description of the invention is mandatory under specifications. So the company would have been
forced to reveal its secret recipe and after the expiry of the protection period any other company
would have been able to use the formula to recreate the same drink and sell in the market.

• The Coca-Cola company thus felt that keeping the formula as a trade secret would serve their
purpose best as they predicted a perpetual demand of their product.  

• The current formula remains a secret for over a century now and is the best kept trade secret in
the world.
CHALLENGES FACED WHILE KEEPING THE
RECIPE A SECRET:
• In 1977 Coca-Cola decided to stop its production in India when under the Indian Foreign
Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) it required to disclose its formula and collaborate with an Indian
company. It only came back when India decided to change its policy after an absence of 17 long
years.

• The biggest controversy was when in 2006 some of its employees tried to sell its secrets to its
rival company PepsiCo.
 COCA-COLA TRADEMARK HISTORY

• The Coca-Cola logo is one the most widely recognized trademarks in the world. By vigorously
protecting its intellectual property, Coca-Cola has been able to build a soft drink empire.

• The success of the Coca-Cola brand is largely dependant on an intricate integration of legal
protections including patents, copyrights and trade secrets

• However, nothing the company owns is more zealously protected than the Coca-Cola
trademark itself, which is estimated to have a value of over seventy billion dollars. 
 ORIGIN OF THE TRADEMARK
• Coca-Cola was originally developed on May 8, 1886 by Dr John Pemberton, a local pharmacist in
Atlanta, Georgia.

• The original beverage was as kind of syrup that was sold as a fountain drink for 5 cents a glass.

• Soon thereafter carbonated water was added to create the familiar taste that was termed,
“Delicious and Refreshing," a phrase that continues to be used in modern advertising.
• Beginning in the early 1950's the trademark designation had been simplified to "Trade-mark ®"
and began to be used on some items. It wasn't until about 1962 that this usage became common
practice.

• Another common visual treatment was the placement of the logo inside a red circle, with a
portrait of the now iconic coke bottle behind it. Anyone who has been to a 1950s stye diner has
no doubt seen one of these on the wall.

• 1958 The Fishtail Logo - The famous script logo was placed in an Arciform shape, known as the
fishtail logo. It became so popular that many stores, shops and restaurants would proudly display
metal signs in order to attract more traffic and business.

• 1969-1985 Catch the Wave - In late 1969 Coca-Cola introduced a new brand logo featuring a
design element dubbed the Arden Square. The red square featured a classic Coca-Cola logo and
what is known as the Dynamic Ribbon device. The new design was used in all publication
materials along with the product itself. The word "Drink" above Coca-Cola was also replaced with
the word "Enjoy". 
• 1985-1987 New Coke - For the first time in its history, Coca Cola was no longer the most popular soft
drink. By this point Pepsi's popularity and sales had surpassed their own and the company was in full
damage control mode. In response the company changed its formula and launched a bold new brand,
snubbing its script logo in favour of a thick slab serif font to accompany their rebrand as Coke. 

• 1987 Back to Classic - Given no choice but to listen to their American customer base, the company
brought back the formula and logo that had been invented exactly one century earlier. Aside from
adding the word "classic" underneath, the famed ribbon graphic was integrated further into the script
itself, intersecting with the "o" in Cola. 

• 2002-2007 The Dynamic Ribbon - In late 2002 a more nuanced ribbon graphic began to appear on
Coke products. While it varied from country to country, the new look featured a number of ribbons in
various grades of transparency, along with the bold addition of a yellow ribbon, breaking away from
the company's long held adherence to their red and white palette. 
• 2007 – Present - A more stark, minimal version of the classic red disc was reintroduced for
corporate/retail purposes. The absence of slogans or the Coke bottle behind the script really
helped to establish the brand itself as the focal point of the logo. 

• 2009 – Present - Hot off the heels of the success of their previous campaign, the company opted
for a more streamlined approach to the classic logo. All slogans, trademarks and additional
graphics have been eschewed in favour of the script, ribbon and a simple ® trademark symbol. So
there you have in a nutshell, the evolution of Coca Cola's logo. It's amazing how the creative
vision of two people can create something so globally ubiquitous. And it's even more telling that,
despite how many visual remixes it's undergone, the essence of the brand has remained the
same over the span of a century. 
 PROTECTING THE TRADEMARK
• The Coca-Cola Company employs an enormous legal staff whose primary function is to protect the
integrity of the brand names, logos, trademarks and intellectual property. Coca-Cola has
trademark lawyers in North America, Latin America, Eurasia, Europe, Africa and the Southeast
Asia.

• The base of legal operation resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where a general counsel oversees a
portfolio of over 30,000 world wide registered service marks, trademarks and patents.
REFERENCES:
• http://bdjls.org/coca-colas-secret-formula-trade-secret-kept-century/
• NIFT IPR MANUAL
• http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/the-secret-is-out-coca-colas-formula-is-at-the-world-
of-coca-cola
• https://www.coca-colacompany.com/our-company/the-coca-cola-company-terms-of-use
• https://prezi.com/vprzubmn7uis/coca-cola-company-intellectual-property-rights/
• www.coca-colaproductfacts.com
• www.legalzoom.com
THANK YOU