Judith de Snoo

What aspect of your work do you enjoy most, and why?

I enjoy being part of a team that builds on an iconic brand used for meaningful and joyful products in an international environment surrounded by creative people. I also really like that some aspects of my work go beyond the legal side of things. Finding and embracing opportunities to build and protect a valuable IP portfolio under sometimes challenging conditions makes my work exciting every day.

In a volatile economic climate, how do you ensure that brand enforcement is effective while keeping costs down?

For us, cost-effective brand enforcement means first working with the right partners who truly understand our business and associated needs. Second, we must continuously safeguard the (legal) quality level that we aim for and look for ways to improve it. Our tailor-made approach also contributes to our effective brand enforcement, depending on the situation. Certain cases require a more educational and personal approach; others require a more commercial one. Some cases also can easily be dealt with through automatically generated/bulk messaging. With this tailor-made approach, we have been quite effective in our brand enforcement, which also positively impacts our enforcement costs.

How are you handling the growing rise in online counterfeiting and the post-pandemic bounce-back of offline counterfeiting – and what do these strategies look like?

Our focus is mainly on online infringements. We have an effective online brand protection program that monitors online infringements globally, covering various modules, including marketplaces, web content, social media, domain names, apps and a range of other digital or social platforms such as games/Web 3.0. As part of our strategy and where feasible, we try to negotiate programs where content is removed proactively by the platforms so that our actions become less retroactive.

As IP director for a large international company, what are some of the biggest challenges that Polaroid faces in overseas markets, and how do you overcome these?

Our brand has a long and somewhat complicated history that still impacts our IP management. However, we achieved numerous IP successes overseas, including, for example, expanding the protection of our famous Polaroid Color Spectrum through colour mark registrations. We are continuously taking steps to further align the consumer’s perception with the Polaroid of today.

Which recent decisions or legislative developments do you predict will have the biggest impact on IP strategy in the Netherlands in the next few years?

We closely follow evolving regulations related to trademark registrations for virtual goods and decisions at the intersection of Web 3.0 and trademark law. Goods featuring our trademarks or product designs are openly used and traded, confusing consumers. The ability to register our trademarks for virtual goods and having our own footsteps in this world is a good first step. Still, we are closely following the measures that have been identified to effectively enforce IP rights in this fast-developing virtual space.