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Extending a message of innovation
TOLMEGA, FRANCE, as a successful manufacturer of standard products such as cable trays, considers intellectual property as an important tool, which, on top of everything else, protects the image of the company.
In our standardised products industry, where innovation is a crucial issue, patent ‘branding’ is a key to get to the market!
In areas of business such as cable trays, where the products are convenience goods, it is essential to innovate in order to acquire and preserve competitive advantages. Tolmega has developed a telescopic cable tray, which is protected and exploited under the T-Scopic trademark, and responds to market needs.
By integrating intellectual property into its strategy, Tolmega protects the exploitation of its innovations and strengthens its brand image with its customers in a sector that has reached maturity.
R&D driven by customer feedback
Tolmega is a French company established following the merger, in 2000, of two companies (Tolartois and Mécafablon) set up during the sixties, and specialising in
very standard products such as cable trays and metal gratings. Initially established within the Gantois group, Tolmega separated from this group in 2005 to join the Hager group. Together with its subsidiaries, the company is now a large SME with some 300 staff split over four sites.
Tolmega is structured around three fields of activity (cable trays, metal gratings, sheet metal construction material). This case study focuses on cable trays, which account for
the bigger part of total sales.
Centred on business-to-business, Tolmega products are aimed at all types of companies, of all sizes and from all sectors. The principal customer catchment area covers Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf states. Now and again, the group gets involved in Asia and Oceania. They have no presence on the American continent.
Tolmega is sited in an extremely competitive environment. In the cable tray business, there are four or five competitors in France and a hundred or so in Europe. Tolmega is
in the challenge for the French market. Sales fluctuate enormously from one year to the next, but 2004 and 2005 were very good years.
Innovation plays a key role in a business dealing in convenience goods such as cable trays. Innovation must enable the installer to save time and the company to make a sufficiently attractive offer to its distributors. According to Jean-Hubert Petit, the marketing manager, these are two critical success factors. For cable trays, Tolmega has equipped itself with a permanent three-person R&D team (in the other business sectors, there are no permanent R&D structures and the teams are brought together on a project-by-project
basis, usually comprising five or six people). It is senior management that gives the impetus to R&D projects, which are invariably driven by customer feedback. To make itself as receptive as possible to customer requirements, Tolmega is ISO 9001 and 9002 certified, and carries out regular customer satisfaction surveys.
Patent protection as a selling point
Tolmega protects its innovations by filing patents and trademarks. Mr Petit, the marketing manager, is also responsible for intellectual property issues. Within the organisation, intellectual property forms part of the core company policy, steered by evolving market needs.
Management of the trademark portfolio is carried out in-house. As regards patents, Mr Petit utilises the expertise provided by an intellectual property attorney for drafting
applications, managing the portfolio and, where necessary, managing any contentious matters. As there are a lot of patents in the field of cable trays, there is a high risk of dispute, but as yet no counterfeiting of Tolmega products has been detected. Mr Petit stresses how important it is for the company to take all appropriate measures to protect itself, and to ensure that patent and technology watch is performed. All patent-related and competitive monitoring is therefore carried out in-house.
It is worth mentioning that in Tolmega’s fields of activity licensing is not common practice. Sheet metal companies file a lot of applications but do not grant licences: they exploit them themselves.
If patent protection is therefore an essential prerequisite for exploiting, it also represents an important selling point. In fact, it is the patent which serves to project the image of an innovative company. Tolmega therefore seeks to capitalise on genuine inventions, such as the telescopic cable tray marketed under the T-Scopic trademark. Tolmega’s product palette includes cable trays, which are marketed under the Tolmega trademark, for example the T-Scopic, a telescopic cable tray. In addition, metal gratings are marketed under the “Tolartois Grating” trademark, and finally subcontracting (sheet metal - cutting and supplies) for industry and construction come under the “Tolartois Industrial / Construction Division” trademark.
It is the same for trademarks; the group seeks to capitalise on flagship and strong trademarks. As Tolmega is the result of a merger between companies that had been
around for more than thirty years, the company is still in the phase of developing a standing for its name. Indeed, one still finds widespread use of the name “Tolartois”
throughout the industry, in the terms used to designate the different fields of activity (“The Tolartois Grating”, “Tolartois Industrial – Construction Division”).
A message to the market
Overall, the company holds twenty or so “live” French patents, a third of which have been granted extensions (with twenty or so validations) and one American patent. There are currently about thirty trademarks in use.
The telescopic cable tray (T-Scopic) developed by Tolmega responds to a market need in terms of the speed with which it can be installed and its ease of storage. The telescopic
system actually enables two-metre cable tray lengths that, using a coupling-free interlocking system, can be easily and rapidly extended to up to four metres in length, compared to the usual length of three metres. This innovation is a major and decisive step forward in terms of installation, handling and logistics.
The system was patented in France in 2001, and extended under EPO coverage in 2002, incorporating substantial modifications. In 2003, an application was filed in the United States. The industrial protection strategy has meant that the exploitation has been protected and that a competitive advantage has been built up by attacking the competition head-on, while at the same time further enhancing the company’s technological standing.
In fact, in terms of exploitation, T-Scopic has been well received by the market and customer feedback has been positive. In general, as Mr Petit explains, “once it’s been
tried, it’s adopted.” The sales of T-Scopic, which represented half the business activity in 2003, are growing “significantly”.
In addition, the filing strategy for a genuine invention such as the T-Scopic will mean enhancing the perception of Tolmega as an innovative company. In Mr Petit’s opinion,
letting it be known that they have patents on an innovation such as the telescopic cable tray sends a message to the market that within the company there is a real capacity for invention, and what’s more, that there is potential in terms of market application.
Costs are restrictive
When they innovate, SMEs should employ the arms of the patent and the trademark. In filing a patent, Mr Petit stresses the importance of obtaining the help of intellectual property attorneys, without whom there is always a risk of the application being invalid.
However, they also have to make a careful choice on what to patent: cost does impose a severe curb on SMEs’ intellectual property. Access to European and American patents
is restricted by the costs of national validations and translations.
The risks of legal proceedings put another curb on their intellectual property. SMEs only have limited time and financial resources to compete in such situations with large and well-equipped companies.
Product facts
Tolmega’s product palette includes cable trays, which are marketed under the Tolmega trademark, for example the T-Scopic, a telescopic cable tray. In addition, metal gratings are marketed under the “Tolartois Grating” trademark, and finally subcontracting (sheet metal - cutting and supplies) for industry and construction come under the “TolartoisIndustrial / Construction Division” trademark.
Company profile
Tolmega is a large SME specialising in standard products such as cable trays and metal gratings. The company was bought by Hager, a German group, in September 2005.
Staff: 300 employees split over four sites.
Sales 2004: €46 million, approximately half of which came from the cable tray business.
Key products: Cable trays, metal gratings.
Customers: Companies in all sectors.
Tolmega
Avenue de la Ferme du Roy
BP 213
62404 Béthune Cedex
France
www.tolmega.com
IP background
Patent protection: 20 or so national patents, a third of which have been granted EPO extensions. One American application.
Patent filing order: At Tolmega, the patent application strategy closely follows the gestation process of the innovation. The company usually starts by filing a so-called “Soleau” envelope (which enables the date of an invention to be registered), then a French patent. A third of national applications are granted EPO extensions.
IP department: Jean-Hubert Petit, marketing manager, is also responsible for IP. He uses IP attorneys to manage the patent portfolio.
Budget: Taking into account patent costs, IP attorney fees and the cost of legal action, the annual IP budget can fluctuate between €50,000 and €250,000.
Success factors: Enabling time-saving installation and having a sufficiently attractive offer. Developing a brand image firmly established on innovation, closely associating patents and trademarks.
Contact
European Patent Office
Erhardtstr. 27, 80469 Munich, Germany
Tel.: +49 89 2399 4636
E-mail: sme@epo.org
www.epo.org
Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle
Observatoire de la Propriété Intellectuelle
97, Boulevard Carnot, 59 040 Lille Cedex, France
Tel.: +33 328 363372/69
E-mail: observatoire@inpi.fr
www.inpi.fr