Aqua

• In addition to experiencing the film for the first time in IMAX, audiences will be treated to exclusive post-credit footage selected by the film’s director, Greta Gerwig.
• The announcement was made today by Jeff Goldstein, President of Domestic Distribution, and Andrew Cripps, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.
• Gerwig stated, “The worldwide enthusiasm for ‘Barbie’ has been overwhelming, humbling, and deeply moving.
• We made ‘Barbie’ for the big screen, so it’s an even bigger thrill to be able to bring it to IMAX, the biggest screen of all.

• AEC-3 is the first modern subsea cable system to directly connect Boston to Europe.
• AEC-3 is the third high-capacity system added to Aqua Comms’ transatlantic footprint and offers enhanced diversity in both the United States and Europe.
• Aqua Comm’s deployment in BO1 includes a secure colocation environment as well as diverse connectivity options through the robust CoreSite ecosystem.
• AEC-3 also enables Aqua Comms to deliver improved reliability in terms of protected capacity on multiple diverse routes.

• The announcement was made today by Jeff Goldstein, President of Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.
• ‘Barbie’ is, without a doubt, the must-see theatrical event that people have been waiting for,” said Goldstein.
• With this new and incredible box office benchmark reached, all of us at Warner Bros.
• Warner Bros. Pictures Presents a Heyday Films Production, a LuckyChap Entertainment Production, an NB/GG Pictures Production, a Mattel Production, “Barbie.” The film is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.

• That Buzz Lightyear bubble bath, Lightning McQueen bedding or Elemental backpack all contribute to a movie’s overall income stream.
• Small businesses trying this kind of thing often get “cease and desist” letters from film studios, demanding they stop.
• But businesses in New Zealand and elsewhere need to consider the risk they face by infringing on Mattel’s intellectual property rights.

The rise of Barbie

• Mattel has been vigilant about controlling the Barbie image.
• It tried to stop conceptual artist Thomas Forsythe from creating artworks depicting Barbie in perilous positions – such as in cocktail blenders and under an oven grill.
• And in the late 1990s, Mattel tried to stop Danish pop group Aqua from singing about Barbie.

Investing in brand protection

• Millions of dollars are spent on creating and sustaining brand images.
• Will these poor imitations affect how people feel about the brand?
• As Mattel told the Canadian court, it is in the business of building brand equity – the commercial value that comes from consumer perception of a brand, which supports vast networks of licensing deals.
• Any unlicensed use of the brand can take away market share.

What is a brand?

• Brand equity is protected by an array of intellectual property (IP) rights.
• Trademarks, copyrights and business goodwill work together to create and protect the valuable asset known as a “brand”.
• This decision might have been different if the restaurant’s goods and services had been more similar to Mattel’s.

A global network of IP treaties

• But international protection of IP has been around since at least the end of the 19th century.
• Aotearoa New Zealand is now party to a network of international IP treaties that help prevent this from happening.
• Protecting IP is part of the quid pro quo for lowering tariffs for our goods in foreign markets.