Securing Over 150 Years of Consumer Trust: How Scotts Leverage TrademarkNow

As a category-leading manufacturer of consumer packaged goods, Scotts Miracle-Gro has built a globally recognized intellectual property portfolio. 

With active trademark registrations dating back to 1918, the company is the custodian of famous marks like SCOTTS®, MIRACLE-GRO®, and ORTHO®.

Scotts is rapidly evolving - the shift toward direct-to-consumer (DTC) models and online sales has heightened the need for vigilant enforcement. Simultaneously, the company is aggressively innovating to reach new generations of consumers, launching products in evolving spaces like insect control and carbon-related niches.

Robert (“Bobby”) Morgan, In-House Counsel at Scotts, understands this landscape intimately. After graduating from Ohio State in 2001 and eventually heading the IP practice group at Porter Wright, he moved in-house to be closer to the day-to-day business strategy. 

Today, Bobby manages not only the Company’s trademark portfolio but also its patent portfolio (spanning biotech, mechanical, electrical, and chemical innovations).

The Challenge: Managing a Historic Legacy with a Small Team

At Scotts, one of the company’s core convictions is that its associates are to “be stewards of our brands.” For Bobby and his small internal team, fulfilling that obligation includes handling all office actions and prosecution internally (while leaning on outside counsel for litigation), meaning efficiency isn't just a perk; it's a necessity. 

They face a high-pressure environment characterized by:

• Speed to market: The need for rapid trademark clearance to match the pace of new product innovation.
  
  
• M&A due diligence: The requirement to quickly yet comprehensively dive deep into target IP portfolios for strategic acquisitions and licensing opportunities.
  
  
• Stakeholder communication: Translating complex search results for brand managers and Senior VPs, especially given the high turnover in brand and marketing positions and roles.

The Transition: Moving to TrademarkNow

As long-term users of the Corsearch Platform, it meant workflows and practices had already been established using their existing tool. The Scotts team had a list of strict non-negotiables - moving to a new platform meant it needed to provide:

• Accurate data
• Comprehensive search results
• Fast data searches to provide immediate advice
• Results charted into an easily digestible format

Despite TrademarkNow meeting all of the criteria, moving away from their familiar legacy system (Corsearch Platform) was daunting. Bobby admits to initial anxiety over moving away from the old system and even considered reverting back.

"Corsearch has established trust by, for decades, providing reliable search and monitoring platforms... What I feel separates Corsearch is its dedication to innovation and improvement and, more importantly, providing the human support needed."

^{Bobby Morgan}

Moving to TrademarkNow feels like a paradigm shift in the way you conduct Search, Watch, and Clearance activities - its speed and advanced user-interface make tasks you’d normally conduct on the Corsearch Platform even easier to execute without the need for manual querying, with TrademarkNow providing even more insights for quicker, more confident opinions. 

Corsearch’s Barb Barron Kelly conducted personalized training sessions for the Scotts legal team, ensuring a seamless adoption process. This ongoing support and open feedback loop not only eased Bobby’s transition but also actively helped his new paralegal learn the basics of trademark law and context simply through daily interaction with the platform.

The Solution: Speed, Accuracy & Conversational Search

Today, Scotts Miracle-Gro relies heavily on the TrademarkNow Platform (ExaMatch and NameCheck) alongside global Watch Services. 

Bobby notes that the platform has proven to be a vastly more efficient and user-friendly tool than alternatives, offering a superior UI that makes information easy to digest for business clients.

• Instant search results via ExaMatch, NameCheck, and LogoCheck: The team uses ExaMatch for preliminary searches and NameCheck for immediate availability checks. Because the platform allows users to manipulate and filter results on the fly, Bobby describes the clearance process as highly "conversational" - allowing the team to "bend the results" as they explore options in real-time.
  
  
• Strategic M&A deep dives: Beyond basic clearance, ExaMatch is utilized during M&A due diligence to instantly verify docket ownership information, conduct comprehensive owner searches, and evaluate entire portfolios quickly.
  
  
• Competitive spot-checking: Instead of formalized competitor watching, the team leverages ExaMatch to save and easily update searches, keeping a close pulse on competitive filings.
  
  
• Global house Brand Protection: Watch Services are deployed globally across all primary house brands and vital sub-brands to defend against infringement.

By fully embracing Corsearch, Scotts Miracle-Gro transformed its IP workflow from a traditional clearance process into a dynamic, presentation-ready strategy.

Live Presentation and Archiving Capabilities 

The platform’s speed allows Bobby’s team to run live searches directly during meetings with brand stakeholders. They can immediately demonstrate search options, pivot strategies on the fly, and download results into static charts. 

This archiving is crucial for creating a historical snapshot of their decision-making process, ensuring continuity even when brand leadership turns over.

Proactive Enforcement Success 

The accuracy of Corsearch’s databases has directly helped the team avoid potential legal issues during clearance. Furthermore, Corsearch Watch Services proved invaluable when it alerted the team to a new filing by a long-inactive party. 

This timely alert allowed Scotts Miracle-Gro to successfully initiate an opposition proceeding in the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).

Measuring True Success 

While the brand teams at Scotts Miracle-Gro measure the ROI of new product launches, Bobby's team measures success differently: by ensuring their legal strategy is perfectly aligned with business goals. 

By utilizing Corsearch, the IP team is fully equipped to advise business stakeholders on the value and risks associated with new mark adoption, ensuring that the 150-year legacy of Scotts Miracle-Gro is protected by strong, enforceable marks for generations to come.

"My advice to other legal teams is to embrace new platforms from established providers because they are designed to be better. The dedication to learning the new system is worth the effort, especially given the reliable support."

^{Bobby Morgan}