Value-Based Content Marketing for Law Firms from a Clean, Green, and Humane Perspective

Intellectual property (IP) law, which includes patent, trademark, and copyright law, is a field dominated by discovery and innovation. This article explores how clean, green, and even humane IP are an emerging focus within this practice area and how lawyers are increasingly using value-based content marketing with this focus.

Understanding how change is upon us requires synthesizing observations, utilizing major markers, and the integration of facts. Consider the high stakes for government leaders at a recent United Nations climate change summit that addressed technology transfer, emissions reduction, verification, financing, and forest preservation, and breaking news out of California about how cap and trade may save the state’s economy. It is noteworthy that Lloyd’s of London ranks climate change first among the factors affecting massive insurance costs, and Allianz projects a 37 percent increase in annual losses from extreme events.

While Honda and Toyota compete to be considered the greenest automaker, the entire industry is heralding a combination of more economical and environmentally friendly products and systems. Better Place is bringing electric vehicle networks to Israel, Denmark, and Australia, with electric taxi pilot projects in Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States, while General Electric is advertising the launch of the WattStation—complete with electric vehicle chargers. Mercedes-Benz has a research smart car with a carbon emissions-cutting internal combustion engine; Ford Motor Company has developed high-pressure direct fuel injection; and Toyota is creating a hydrogen fuel cell car. These are examples of the type of changes that, industry by industry, affect your practice, whether you are an IP lawyer or not.

Value-Conscious Marketing
Lawyers are positioning themselves to both compete in a more cost- and value-conscious market and behave like the clientele they wish to attract. For example, a web search for “clean and sustainable” reveals that Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has “particular experience in the areas of life sciences, clean technology, electronics, and software,” and that “[b]eyond expert legal advice, our attorneys value and balance the commercial goals and risks that motivate client and service providers and strive to find market-based, equitable, and sustainable contractual solutions . . .”

Likewise, Morrison & Foerster is among the firms located by this type of web search. Branding itself as “the leading firm in Cleantech,” the firm tracks “legislative and regulatory developments, investment trends, and corporate sustainable activity.” The firm’s Cleantech legal services include biofuels, carbon capture, energy efficiency and intelligence, fuel cells and batteries, green building, green marketing and advertising, renewable energy, solar energy, sustainable organic, and water technology.

The Language of Green
Growing evidence suggests that law firms value being seen as “green,” a term associated with an environmentally friendly product or practice. According to Norvell IP News, that firm’s lawyers are copresenting “Legally Responsible Green and Natural Marketing” and authoring “Help Your Client Avoid Greenwashing,” as well as  “[United States Patent and Trademark Office] Issues New Guides Regarding Deceptiveness Refusals.” Frankfurt Kurnit, Klein and Selz promotes a speaker on “New Changes to the [Federal Trade Commission]’s Green Guides.” If you add “blog” to a simple web search for “green,” you will quickly find Eric Lane’s Green Patent Blog, which is registered and in a class by itself because of the quality and international scope of the site, including discussion of developments at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Not only are lawyers aware of the desirability of a cleaner and greener image, there are growing business opportunities for lawyers to help their clients avoid “greenwashing,” which occurs when a business or brand pretends to be something it is not. The congruence between what a business is and what a business claims to be is evaluated by watchdog and consumer groups, some of which have respected certifications. In North America, TerraChoice manages the EcoLogo certification.  A company using this certification has satisfied stringent environmental criteria and has been audited by a credible third party. See www.ecologo.org/en/index.asp.

TerraChoice also has gained the ear of the Federal Trade Commission by setting standards that the firm calls the “seven sins of greenwashing.” They are the sins of the hidden trade-off, no proof, vagueness, worshipping false labels, irrelevance, lesser of two evils, and fibbing. These “sins” reflect objective standards and can be utilized beyond green marketing.
Clean, Green, and Now, Humane

While environmental watchdogs and certifications are gaining prominence, there are a growing number of humane–type certifications related to whether farm animals are given a nutritious diet without antibiotics or hormones and are provided with shelter, a resting area, sufficient space, and the ability to engage in natural behaviors. The Humane Society of the United States explores how Humane Farm Animal Care’s “Certified Humane,” which employs these standards, compares to the American Welfare Institute’s “Animal Welfare Approved” and the American Humane Association’s “American Humane Certified,” and investigates some of the organic and cage-free type claims.

But let us apply some rigor and explore a new concept, “humane-washing,” by utilizing TerraChoice’s hidden trade-off standard. Value-conscious clean, green, and humane shoppers might spend more to purchase a product with a humane label but be unaware that the organic chicken they bought was bioengineered to be very big-breasted and featherless. Consumers might ask how eating bioengineered animals will impact their health and may search for more comprehensive certifications. They might seek out lawyers concerned both about the humane treatment of farm animals and the safety of the food supply, and may hire them as a result of value-based marketing.

Another humane concern can be examined through the use of the worshipping false labels standard. Are companies that use endangered big cats in their brands or marketing efforts—and that do nothing to promote their survival in the wild—at least marginally involved in humane-washing?
Putting Eco Values into Practice

Begin counting how often you hear these words: clean, green, humane, earth, natural, enviro, rescue; or see the colors green and blue. Then put this exercise in the greater context of the choices you are making in your selection of cleaning products, cosmetics, cars, food, pets, and ask yourself: Why are you influenced? Do you factor in pollution, carbon emissions, and greenhouse gases in your decision-making process before you purchase a product or service? Would your clients like to see these values reflected in your legal practice? Examining these issues could make you become more effective in both understanding and attracting a value-driven clientele.

Through technology, lawyers and their clients are increasingly able to ascertain authenticity and value-based congruence between words and deeds. All IP is created from our minds and impacts what our world will become, as does our collective value system. We live in interesting times when values related to clean, green, and humane are defining legal professionals and providing our clients and the persons they serve with the heightened ability to discriminate based on facts and to select lawyers who represent environmental and humane values together with the technological advances they embrace. v

Barbara J. Gislason is the chair of the  TIPS Intellectual Property Committee, the founder and first chair of the TIPS Animal Law Committee, and cochair of the Minnesota chapter of the American Bar Foundation Fellows. She practices family law, art and entertainment law, and animal law in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

This article was originally published [OR A previous version of this article was published] in the Winter 2011 edition of TortSource (Vol. 13, No. 2).