Interview with The 11 Day Power Play, Inc.

The interview for this week.

This week, Vince LoTempio had a chance to interview The 11 Day Power Play, Inc. Here’s how it went:

What is the name of your business? Where are you located? What are you trying to accomplish with your venture?

The 11 Day Power Play, Inc. is a non-profit 501c3 organization located in Buffalo, NY. We are very proud of our organization and what we have accomplished in support of cancer causes in WNY. We hope to put cancer on ice once for all through the sport of hockey in our great city.

Click here to visit the 11 Day Power Play, Inc. Website.

What is your background and how long have you been involved with this industry?

 The 11 Day Power Play non-profit was established in 2016. We have raised nearly $2.5M for cancer causes in 2 years. We have been inspired by our personal experiences with cancer and are motivated to continue our mission to support worthy cancer causes.

 How did your idea come about? How did you organize your team?

Our family along with many others have been affected by cancer. Amy was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2009 requiring multiple surgeries and aggressive chemotherapy treatments. My mom sadly lost her 3 year battle with lung cancer in 2016. We were inspired to make a difference by supporting cancer research. We along with a determined group of friends organized the world’s longest hockey game and raised more than $1.2M. The 2017 record-breaking game was limited to just 40 players, but requests came pouring in from local hockey enthusiasts who wanted to participate, and the 11 Day Power Play Community Shift was born.  In 2018 more than 1500 hockey players took to the ice in Buffalo’s second 11 Day hockey game. The community came together to further cancer awareness and raise more than $1.28M this time benefitting Roswell Park, Camp Good Days and Make-A-Wish WNY.

 Click here to read more about 11 Day Power Play and Roswell on fighting cancer.

What were some of your concerns as a new business?

We were concerned about protecting the 11 Day Power Play brand.

 As a small business operator, what type of lessons could you give to inventors and people with new ideas as to how to bring their ideas to fruition?

Anything is possible and a small group of determined people can do amazing things. Always believe!

 Are you familiar with any of the laws regarding patent, trademark law or licensing and how they affect your business?

Thanks to your expertise we are aware and we are so pleased to now have an official registered trademark for our name and logos.

 Do you have any questions that you think should be asked and answered? Do want to add anything else about yourself or your business?

No, thank you.

Intellectual property and start ups.

As stated above, start ups will have always have concerns about protecting their brand. Brands can obtain protection through trademark laws. Trademark law gives the trademark holder the exclusive right to use a mark. The exclusive right to use a mark is extremely important since it allows the brand to build consumer goodwill, which is important in any business.

It will be extremely difficult for a start up to build consumer goodwill if competitors are using the same mark. If more than one party is using the same mark, consumers will be confused as to who actually owns the mark.

Non-exclusive use of a mark makes recouping losses harder.

If a party does not have the exclusive right to use a mark, they will not only have a more difficult time building consumer goodwill, but recouping losses as well. For example, Party A sells bicycles under Mark A. But Party B also sells bicycles under Mark A. Consumers may purchase Party B’s bicycles with the misbelief that they were purchasing goods from Party A because Party B has been selling bicycles under Mark A. Those sales that Party B made could of went to Party A, and A is deprived of potential profit. Recouping losses is even more crucial when a start up is only beginning its entry into the market.

Other forms of intellectual property protection.

Trademark laws are designed to protect things like marks and brands. However, a business or start up is generally not just a brand. A business or start up generally needs to provide services or products to generate revenue and profits. Thus, protection is needed for these services or products. (For more about trademarks, click here.)

If a start up is selling music, art, videos, or programming services, then that start up may need copyright protection. Copyright law protects original works of art. Music, art, videos, and software codes are just a few of the things that can qualify for copyright protection. In contrast, if a start up is selling a new type of invention, they may want patent protection. The more protection a start up has, the more likely it can build consumer good will and recoup losses.

Click here to read more about patents.

What do you think about the interview with The 11 Day Power Play and intellectual property protection for start ups? Leave a comment below to let us know what you think!

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Disclaimer: This article is not legal advice. It is only for educational or entertainment purposes only. Please do not use the article or contents of the article without permission. For legal advice and questions, please contact registered Patent Attorney Vincent LoTempio.