Smiling

Franklin did.

Franklin was born in Algeria and worked at a newspaper in France.

It was the early 1970s and bad news seemed to be everywhere …

The editor asked Franklin to come up with something to help promote and spread good news … so Franklin crafted a simple logo that could be placed next to all the positive stories in the paper … a logo that was nothing special and had pretty much probably been invented way back in the stone age … the paper used it and…before long other newspapers started using it too … but then Franklin did something no one else did … he trademarked the logo and then together with his son started licensing its use .. first in France and then around the world.

When they tried to trademark it in the US … they ran into a small company called Walmart … after a prolonged and expensive legal battle over its use … a deal was struck allowing everyone to go home happy. Walmart got to use it … and Franklin’s company got to keep licensing it to others.

Today, the company Franklin and his son built based on a simple stone age era logo, earns $200 million a year as one of the top licensing company in the entire world … all because they trademarked and actively licensed a simple design … and you’ll smile when I tell you … its Smiley face logo.

The Smiley face logo is a great idea … because protecting a great idea is almost important as having the great idea in the first place!