Safe and sane at work

 

Combating workplace stress is the theme of today’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work – and ISO standards can help.

Whether it be burn-out or bore-out, work-related stress is a significant societal issue. Greater expectations, increased competition and rapid changes in technology and trends place pressure on employees to worker harder and longer – or change their role altogether. This type of stress can result in serious consequences to health and well-being, which is why the International Labour Organization (ILO) has chosen workplace stress as the theme of today’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work.

There is a lot that can be done to prevent and manage such stress, including effective well-being programmes and reducing any risks to health and safety that may occur as a result of people’s work.

ISO’s upcoming standard for occupational health and safety management will help organizations improve the health and well-being of their employees and reduce workplace stress through the implementation of an occupational health and safety management system.

This includes identifying and managing hazards and risks, and implementing measures to ensure employees are not subjected to excessive workloads, there is adequate supervision and clear processes are put in place for communication and consultation between management and staff.

The standard also helps organizations reduce work-related accidents and ill health and create a positive health and safety culture.

More about the progress of ISO 45001 coming soon in our blog.

Importance Of Trademark Search Prior To Filing

Trademark is a very important for business organizations. It is basically the name, logo, letter, phrase, symbol or combination of all of these. It offers identity to the products & services of the organization. It empowers the registered firm to fetch competitors to the court that resort to unhealthy competition by using infringement. So, it is necessary to file this in order to legally protect products & services.

Prior to filing, effective trademark search is necessary. This is being done as same name is offered to once in a while. So, prior to filing, thorough checking should be done so that the application can’t be penalized. If the brand name already exists than the application should surely get rejected. So, it is highly recommended to search whether the name you are looking for is in use or not. Given below are some of the tips that help you in proper searching.

Internet is the most vital source to generate any information. Prior to filing you can search the name you are looking for on internet to know whether it is in use or not. Try out the popular search engines like Bing, yahoo or Google to look for the name. If the name you are looking for appear in the list this means that some other organization is using this as its brand name. So, you have to look for another unique name.

After that you have to do comprehensive research related to the name using government database. It keeps all relevant information related to the topic. From here you will get all information related to the existing names. You can do this type of search using internet.

It is true that trademark search is a tedious process. The application filing needs lot of paper. Looking into the complexity of application filing procedure, it is highly recommended that one should take the necessary assistance of the legal firms. These legal firms are offering their services for searching & filing procedure. Organizations contain database of existing names & also know the ways of how to do search in an efficient manner. Their legal experts know various tools & by using these tools, they can efficiently search the brand name. By taking the help of legal experts the probability of rejection gets minimize. Application filing also needs lot of paper work. So, legal experts prepare these papers in a manner that the application will surely get granted.

This is a very time consuming process. In order to save time & maximize the probability of acceptance, it is highly recommended that one should take the help of legal consultants. They will do thorough trademark search & file the application in a proper manner. They will also suggest you the brand name which essentially support your business.

Quality Foundation is a registered trademark firm provides complete trademark service to its clients all over the India that includes brand registration, filing, search, opposition, Renewal, etc.

M: +91-959345-7662

Email: info.qfindia@gmail.com

Benefits Of Trademark Registration

For any business organization, there are certain legal procedures that are must to follow so that business can flourish in a most fruitful manner. The most vital thing for any business organization is its Trademark (TM) & it is necessary to get it registered. It is a tool which differentiates products & services of one vendor from other. It offers identity to the products so that buyers don’t get confused in commodities of various other brands.

Trademark is a word, alphabet, letters, symbol or combination of all of these. It is basically the brand name & it is the name that fetches buyers to purchase goods & services. It is different from patents & copyright. A patent is to protect innovations while copyright protect literary work. This is used to protect products, services & goodwill of buyers. It is basically the legal right which is entrusted to the business organizations to protect their name. By this law, organizations get the authority to bring those to book who get involve in tarnishing the image of their company by selling falsified products on their name. This is a very powerful law which helps in protecting products from infringement. There are several advantages that are served by brand registration.

• Uniqueness: The brand name is offered to a single enterprise. Same name can’t be issued to different organizations, so it offers the legal ownership to the name. After the successful completion of the filing of papers, no other organization or person can use the same name. If they do so then you can easily bring them to book. So, in order to protect the name of your brand, it is essentially important to register.

• In this competitive scenario the other organizations sell duplicate products in the market on the name of other organization to break the goodwill of buyers. In such cases, trademark registration lawentrusted you with power to take legal action against those who are doing these activities. In other word, you name is surely protected by this law.

• Goodwill: Trademark helps in spreading goodwill in the market. A business organization without registered name is basically a team without identity. If your organization has name, this surely shows reputation. It is the name that brings business & opportunity. This is a symbol of quality, reliability & consistency & will surely help in boosting the activities of the venture.

• Legal Authority: This is a legal procedure & offers tremendous power to protect logo, symbol or name associated with the organization. If the competitors use the same things then proper legal action can be taken against them.

Brand registration is surely an important step to protect your business legally. It is necessary as it offers several advantages. But its filing is essentially involves lot of research & paper work. So, for this, Quality Foundation offers specialist trademark registration services so that your organization gets identity in easy & effective manner.

Quality Foundation is a registered trademark firm provides complete trademark service to its clients all over the India that includes brand registration, filing, search, opposition, Renewal, etc.

M: +91-959345-7662

Email: info.qfindia@gmail.com

Brand Registration: Good For Business

The brand registration is the most important thing for an organization to have a better business prospective. It is basically the name that attracts buyers to buy products & services of the company. So, it is necessary for any organization to have a legal name through which it can represent itself in the market.

The brand registration is nothing but it is basically the other name of trademark registration. It is basically name, logo, alphabet, phrase, symbol or combination of all of this. By getting registered, the organization has the legal authority to use the name in selling & promoting goods & services in the market. Under this law, the organization gets the legal entity of the name, preventing others to use the same or the confusing name. If the other organizations use your registered name, then you can take legal action against them. There are several other characteristics that are associated with this registration. Some of the most prominent advantages are discussed below.

The most important benefit of brand registration is that it helps in promotion. It is basically the promotion that fetches buyers & consumers. If you have a registered name, then you can use it during ad campaign. By this, can easily attract buyers & make a name for your brand. It also helps in offering identity to the brand. As none other can use the same name, so your services & products can easily be distinguished from others. This provides flexibility to the consumers in choosing your unique brand.

The other attribute of brand name registration is that it equips you with the legal authority. By registering, you become the legal owner of the name & no other organization has the legal authority to use the same name. This protects your products & services from infringement. In this competitive scenario, sometimes competitors resort to cheap tactics. In order to tarnish the image of your organization, they sell fraudulent products & services. This cheap activity can easily be prevented with the help of the brand registration. If you find anyone engaging in this activity, then you have the legal power to take action against them.

One very vital merit of registering a brand is that it helps in spreading goodwill in the market. With this, buyers get full information related to the company & its products & services. This provides them with the feeling of confidence & they understand that the organization surely has a good reputation. This helps a lot in boosting the business.

From the above discussion, we can easily understand the importance of brand registration. This is surely the most potent tool that equips you with legal authority to use the name. This helps in growing confidence in the consumers & provide sufficient support in spreading goodwill in the market. So, this is essentially the most important aspect to have a healthy business.

Quality Foundation is a registered trademark firm provides complete trademark service to its clients all over the India that includes brand registration, filing, search, opposition, Renewal, etc.

M: +91-959345-7662

Email: info.qfindia@gmail.com

Learning the lingo of patents and trademarks

First, let’s talk about the basics: what is a patent and what is a trademark?

Patents and trademarks are both forms of intellectual property rights that give their owners legal advantages in the marketplace. We say “intellectual property” because we are talking about creations of the mind and the effort it takes to turn ideas into reality. Patents are issued for inventions, which can encompass any form of human technology, from chemical compositions to electronics and software. They can also cover processes, designs, and even asexually reproduced plants.

                     Dr. Charles Drew (left), inventor of the blood bank, and a medical team. He received a patent for his method of preserving blood, which helped save thousands of lives during World War II.

A patent allows its holder to exclude others from making, selling, using, importing, or offering the invention for sale for a limited amount of time (usually 20 years). In return, the inventor discloses the inner workings of the invention so that the world can learn from it and perhaps even improve it.

                Examples of trademarks from the museum’s collections: Nike’s “Just Do It” and the swoosh are both trademarked; so is Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Colonel Sanders.

Trademarks are symbols, logos, words, or other distinct identifying marks of a brand, product, or service. Trademarks prevent confusion in the marketplace and help consumers identify their trusted or preferred brands, thus engendering goodwill and customer loyalty.

When did trademarks come to be?

The earliest forms of trademarks predate recorded history. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of some kind of trademarking in nearly every civilization. Identifying the maker of, say, a pottery jar, or the owner of a livestock animal, was important to commerce even in ancient times. In the United States, trademarks did not become a federally governed intellectual property right until 1870, though every state had, since colonial times, some form of law or common law to protect genuine brands from imposters. The oldest still-in-use U.S. trademark, registration no. 11210, dates to 1884.

Is there anything that’s commonly misunderstood about the patent process?

Perhaps one common misconception is that you can patent an idea. While ideas can be incredibly powerful and unique, they are not necessarily “inventions” until they reach a certain level of development, which often requires creating prototypes and testing. A patent application must describe an invention in such detail that it could be made and used by someone who has normal skill in the technological area of the invention. We call that “reduction to practice” at the USPTO, and it means you’ve got an invention and not just an idea!

                           Thomas Edison’s 1873 model of an improved stock ticker for the Gold & Stock Telegraph Company. Patent models, which were included in the application process at Thomas Jefferson’s insistence, are no longer required.

What makes an invention successful? Just because you get a patent doesn’t mean your creation is successful, right?

Success is tricky to define. An invention can be effective at solving the problem it was intended to fix, but it might never be commercially successful. At the same time, there are plenty of inventions that sell well but don’t succeed at solving problems. But evaluating this is not the USPTO’s role. Patent examiners ensure that an invention meets the requirements for a patent under the law. At the most basic level, this means the invention must not have existed before and must not be an obvious improvement to something that already exists.

With ISO 9001 changing to the 2015 version, what will auditors be looking for? What questions will they be asking?

Our training is ready to go…are you?

Our training is ready to go…are you?

The long wait is over, ISO has released the final drafts for both ISO 9001 Quality Management systems and IS0 14001 Environmental Management systems in line with the 10 clauses of the ISO high level structure. Plus, Exemplar Global has now compiled and issued the performance criteria for training providers.

At the Auditor Training Centre we have been busy developing new courses that reflect the more risk based, business focussed and contextualised approach to management systems….And we like it.

As we have highlighted before in previous blogs some real key changes will ensure management systems from now on have increased focus on the actual organization and its business processes.

Primarily, a risk-based approach to system management is now required, which include risks to;

• The customer (quality),
• The community (environment), and of course
• To people (OHS)

These specific risks for the organization need to identified, assessed, prioritized and managed.

In order to help identify these risks, organizations will need to understand the context in which they operate. This means both the external and internal issues that do, or couldimpact on them as a business.

Issues of external context include things like;

• cultural,
• technological,
• social and economic environments,

…whether local, national or international.

Internal context issues will include;

• culture,
• performance, and
• knowledge.

Also introduced is that the management system must now align with the businesses strategic direction – this is very interesting as in many existing management systems the “system” is often quite devoid of those people setting the strategic direction of the business. This leads us to another area of increased focus – leadership.

In earlier versions of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, the term top management is used, and these people had certain responsibilities; defining policies and objectives, providing resources, and reviewing the performance of the system. In many instances these were often delegated duties…and these responsibilities were spread throughout the standards.
However, in the new ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 in line with the ISO high level structure (HLS) a whole clause is dedicated to leadership, and top management now has to ‘demonstrate’ leadership, including such things as;

• taking accountability for the effectiveness of the system,
• ensuring the integration of the system requirements in to the organization’s business processes,
• promoting risk based thinking
• engaging, directing and supporting persons
• supporting other managers to demonstrate their leadership.

The changes mentioned above are generic across all new management systems standards with the HLS, However we must remember that the target market for these two standards are different. Now we are going to look at specific changes for each. Arguably, these changes were present in the previous standards, but have been emphasised or expanded on in the new release.

ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems

Firstly, we will look at ISO 9001 and the increased focus on the process approach. The process approach has been around in ISO 9001 for a while, at least since ISO 9001:2000 and some would say even earlier, requires organizations to identify their own processes and the sequence and interaction of these processes.

 So what has changed now?

Not only does ISO 9001 require business processes to be identified along with how theyinterrelate to each other, but it also wants the inputs and outputs of these processes to be determined. ISO 9001:2015 does not specifically say that these inputs and outputs need to be documented, only that they need to be determined. However, it also states that documentation is to be maintained to support the operation of its processes, which for many people will mean documented.

ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems

Secondly, let us look at ISO 14001 with its focus on environmental aspects and impacts and improved environmental performance. Now ISO 14001 has always wanted organizations to identify and manage their significant impacts with the overarching goal of improving their performance with regard to the environment.

So what has changed now?

The new ISO 14001:2015 still requires this but goes further in requiring an organization to apply a life cycle approach to the identification of its environmental aspects. Using this life cycle approach an organization should be considering these typical stages;

• extraction of raw materials,
• design,
• production,
• transportation,
• use, and
• end-of-life treatment.

Now, in some cases, this will not be a detailed assessment because an organization only need consider what it can control or influence, but it many organizations especially large ones just having an aspects and impacts register will no longer be sufficient.

So our courses have been developed, are trainers are up to date, and we are ready to go….so if you want your qualification to be up to date and you want to know what the new ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 have in store for you, book your place on one of our up and coming courses.

Contact us: Quality Foundation – +91 94340 61138 or qualityfoundation.slg@gmail.com

What is the High Level Structure in the new ISO 9001 & ISO 14001?

Are you preparing for the new standards? Quality Foundation has dedicated ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 workshops ready.

Contact us: Quality Foundation – +91 94340 61138 or qualityfoundation.slg@gmail.com

Higher Level Structure (HLS) which is now being used for all new and revised management system standards. The HLS approach is a logical and sensible idea to try and harmonise the basic structure and content of all management system standards, and is defined under an ISO Directive in Annex SL (just in case that reference crops up in other blogs and documentation).

STEP 2: HIGHER LEVEL STRUCTURE (HLS)

The High Level Structure covers several main features:

– A common set of 10 main clauses which every management system standard must contain
– Some defined mandatory sub-clauses under each of the 10 main clauses
– Under each clause mandatory worded content which has to be included in every standard

So……. every management system standard consists of the same main clause headings, the same mandatory sub-clause headings, and some mandatory text which is common to all standards.

But…. each management system standard can then contain additional sub-clauses and additional text to provide the focus for that specific standard and its bespoke requirements.

To show you what we mean……

The mandatory HLS clauses are as follows:

1 Scope
2 Normative References
3 Terms and references
4 Context of the organisation
5 Leadership
6 Planning
7 Support
8 Operation
9 Performance evaluation
10 Improvement

These main clause headings won’t be changing- they have been agreed by ISO as the HLS for all management system standards- and you can find this already in use in more recent standards such as ISO 55001:2014 Asset Management and ISO 27001:2013 Information Security Management. As an example let’s review Clause 4 Context of the Organisation. The current Drafts of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 both contain the mandatory sub-clause headings of:

4.1 Understanding the organisation and its context
4.2 Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties
4.3 Determining the scope of the management system
4.4 The management system

The ISO Committees could have agreed to add further sub-clauses to each of their standards if they felt it was relevant, but for Clause 4 they both decided to stay with only the mandatory sub-clauses, and provided some of their own local additional text to add focus for more quality-critical or environment-critical issues within each sub-clause.

Under Clause 8 Operation, the only mandatory sub-clause is:
8.1 Operational planning and control
But here we see some significant divergence between the ISO 9001 Committee and the ISO 14001 Committee on additional sub-clauses, namely:

For ISO 9001:
8.2 Determination of market needs and interactions with customers
8.3 Operational planning process
8.4 Control of external provision of goods and services
8.5 Development of goods and services
8.6 Production of goods and services
8.7 Release of goods and services
8.8 Nonconforming goods and services

For ISO 14001:
8.2 Value chain control
8.3 Emergency preparedness and response

Pretty different in terms of additional content! But actually not significantly different in headings and structure of sub-clauses than those under Clause 7 of ISO 9001:2008 and Clauses 4.4.6 and 4.4.7 of ISO 14001:2004.
So hopefully you can see how ISO has approached the idea of finally adopting a common approach to the basic structure and content of management systems, whilst allowing individual management system standards to be ‘tailored’ to their own respective issues and focus areas.

This covers aspects of the Higher Level Structure. In the next blog, I will start to look at some of the key changes being driven by the new standards and structures. What is both interesting and logical is that the more important changes are COMMON to both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001- or to any management system. Why is that logical? Because the fundamental principles of any management systems are based on a set of common principles.

Are you preparing for the new standards? Quality Foundation has dedicated ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 workshops ready. 

Contact us: Quality Foundation – +91 94340 61138 or qualityfoundation.slg@gmail.com

Dollars and sense: ISO’s standard for currency codes has been revised

Pounds or sterling, dollars or bucks? Our globalized world would feel a lot less global if it we didn’t have agreed codes for money. ISO’s newly revised standard for currency codes has just been published, ensuring it is fit for the challenges of a fast changing, ever diminishing world.

From trading on international stock exchanges to having some cash in your pocket when you’re travelling, consistency in the use of currency codes is a vital ingredient in helping our world go around. ISO 4217 codes – such as USD for the US dollar and CHF for the Swiss franc – are essential for avoiding any confusion that can arise with translated currency names or unclear symbols, including on airline tickets and international train tickets.

The issuing and administration of standardized currency codes is handled by the Currency Office, also known as the Secretariat of the Maintenance Agency for ISO 4217, run by SIX Interbank Clearing Ltd, on behalf of the Swiss Association for Standardization and ISO’s Swiss member, SNV.

The recent review of the standard was undertaken by ISO technical committee, ISO/TC 68/SC 7, which is led by AFNOR, ISO’s member in France, with SNV as convenor. It addressed a number of issues, including those related to the ever-increasing number of applications for new currencies and improving efficiencies.

Chairman of ISO/TC 68/SC7 Patrice Hertzog said:

“The new standard states that only applications from central banks or other government authorities will be processed, as opposed to the previous version that allowed applications from private organizations.

“In addition, it was decided that some greater issues, such as the fact that there are a limited number of free currency codes available for new currencies, would be tackled by an Ad Hoc Group.”

This means that the new standard applies only to ‘sovereign money’, ie that issues by a state authority, and no longer includes codes requested by private companies whose currency can never be recognized as legal tender.

In addition, its scope now focuses purely on the methods for defining a code and not the codes themselves, therefore the list of currencies and the guidelines have been removed to avoid any confusion. They are still, however, available from the maintenance agency.

ISO 4217:2015 is available from your national ISO member or the ISO Store.

ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems Revision

ISO 9001, the world’s leading quality management standard, is under revision, with an updated version due by the end of 2015.

Why is ISO 9001 being revised?

All ISO standards are reviewed every five years to establish if a revision is required to keep it current and relevant for the marketplace. The future ISO 9001:2015 will respond to the latest trends and be compatible with other management systems such as ISO 14001.

Where are we at in the revision process?

ISO 9001 is about to reach the Final Draft International Stage (FDIS ballot expected by July), the fifth stage of a six stage process, whereby the ISO subcommittee revising the standard will now go through all the comments received during the DIS vote in order to produce a final draft which will then be put forward to all ISO members for voting.

What is the next step?

Once all comments have been considered a final draft will be produced and put forward to ISO members for voting.

When will the new version be published?

ISO 9001:2015 is due to be published by the end of 2015.

What will be the main changes to the standard?

The new version will follow a new, higher level structure to make it easier to use in conjunction with other management system standards, with increased importance given to risk. More information about the changes can be found in the news area.

I am certified to ISO 9001:2008. What does this mean for me?

Organisations are granted a three-year transition period after the revision has been published to migrate their quality management system to the new edition of the standard.

How do I find out more?

We recommend you contact your national member body for more information on how the FDIS is proceeding in your country.

More detailed information about the revision and ISO 9001 can be found on the Technical Committee page (members only).

Finally, keep checking this page as we will be posting regular updates between now and the standard’s final publication.