Reference no: EM133603189

Case Study: Several years ago, two Belgian students at EMLV, both named Benoit, devised what they thoughtwas a great idea: a smart phone application ("app") to educate customers about beer. They hadseen educational applications available for wine, but not for beer.The two Benoits were very excited about their idea and launched an online survey among theirclassmates and students at neighboring universities to see if their peers would be interested inpurchasing their app and to gauge the price they would be willing to pay for the app.Meanwhile, the two Benoits signed a contract, which did not include any provisions related tointellectual property, with a company based in Russia called Rusky Software. Rusky Softwareprovided the two Benoits a good functioning app with a very attractive graphical user interface(GUI). The app provided suggestions about different types of beer that a consumer might enjoypending his/her responses to a list of questions about taste preferences. Also, the app includeda function where a consumer could type in the name of any beer (e.g., one they happen to passin a shop) and a detailed review of the beer was provided.The two Benoit's quickly launched their finished app on Google Play with the name "Beer Coach".Soon thereafter, a major newspaper in Belgium published a short article praising the release ofthe Beer Coach app.Unfortunately, some problems arose. A small group of the two Benoits' classmates decided tocopy the two Benoits' idea, which they had learned about when taking the two Benoits' marketresearch survey. The group of students also hired Rusky Software to make their app. RuskySoftware provided the group essentially the same application, in terms of the GUI and underlyingsource code, that they provided the two Benoits. The group of students then launched their appon Google Play, right after the two Benoits had launched their own app. The group of students'app was named "Coach for Beer".About thirteen months after the launch of their Beer Coach app on Google Play, the two Benoitstried to apply to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for a registered designon the GUI of their app. They have yet to hear back if they will be granted the design. They alsoapplied with the EUIPO for the trademark "Beer Coach" on their app, which they have not yetheard if it will be granted.

Questions: How should the two Benoits have better managed their intellectual assets? How can they still respond to their current situation to profit from their innovations?