Kayaks Multi-Sided Market and Intellectual Properties Important to It - Case Study Example

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: KAYAK’s multi-sided market and Intellectual Properties important to it Kayak Software Corporation (Kayak.com), or simply KAYAK, is a technology-driven company that has revolutionized online travel since its formation in 2004 by Steve Hafner and Paul M. English, both co-founders of the three biggest search engine bookers - Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocity. KAYAK was formed in order to offer something different from the traditional online booking sites and now offers its services in 18 languages. In the year 2013, KAYAK was purchased by the Priceline Group. The firm is an automated private consumer, with a single focus on the online travel market. Simply put, it is a fare aggregator and travel metasearch engine that uses proprietary algorithms and software to quickly search and compare travel information from tens and hundreds of websites, and to conveniently find, consolidate and sort this information for travelers, presenting it in one comprehensive, quick, and intuitive interface, all at no cost. Unlike the other big search engine booking sites like Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity, Kayak.com casts a broader net and will run the user’s schedule and/ or planned routes through the individual airline websites, discounters, consolidators, and traditional travel agencies, and come up with the best real-time prices and travel information for the user in a matter of seconds, thus significantly saving the user significant transaction costs and time that would have been spent in the hassle of opening numerous tabs and going back and forth to find the best prices out there. The agency also provides users with travel organization tools like rating alerts and flight status apprises, and once the customers have found what they would like to purchase, be it a preferred flight, rental car, HomeAway vacation rental, hotel or further travel products, KAYAK sends them to their preferred travel supplier or online travel agent or website to complete the purchase. Multi-sided or two-sided markets are by definition markets in which platforms offer interaction services to two (or more) categories of end-users[Roc03]. David S. Evans defines a two-sided market as one which serves distinct groups of customers who need each other in some way, and the core business of this platform is to provide a common (real or virtual) meeting place and to facilitate interactions between members of the two distinct customer groups [Eva11]. These markets create value by either reducing search costs or reducing transaction costs between entities that can benefit from getting together [Eva11], benefits that the site kayak.com has provided to its users. Competition amongst stages occurs when seemingly divergent client groups are linked through inter-reliant demand and a platform that, acting as an intermediary, internalizes the occasioning subsidiary network externalities [Roc03]. With this in mind, KAYAK is a multi-sided or two-sided market that harvests content already available on the web to solve the characteristic chicken-and-egg problem of the two-sided network, which is a consequence of indirect network effects, without subsidization, exclusivity, or setting out as a vendor or seller to one set of users. The company is an online platform that links users looking to purchase travel services and products and travel suppliers with online travel agents who provide these products and services. Both sides – the travelers and the travel suppliers and online travel agents - were already existent, therefore KAYAK merely serves as the intermediary, by aggregating the data from all sellers, that is, travel suppliers and online travel agents, and serving as a one-stop shop for all buyers/ users, that is people looking to purchase travel products and services. KAYAK is a leading online travel brand that has users who either directly visit their websites, or are referred to their website by general search engines. The hefty customer base is vastly targeted on searching for travel info and purchasing travel merchandises and facilities. KAYAK, therefore, acts as a channel through which users access real-time pricing and travel information, make a selection, and get linked directly to online travel agents and travel suppliers. While online travel agents and travel suppliers can gain the right of entry and effectively sell their products and services to this audience. The KAYAK platform also allows targeted advertisements, and based on the users’ search criteria or specifications, it links users to relevant content and pages on the advertiser’s website Since users access KAYAK’s services and products for free, the company’s revenue is sourced from distribution revenues, advertising revenues and advertisements placed on their websites and mobile applications and also from referrals to online travel agents and travel suppliers. Every business and corporation need to discern how to protect itself using some form of Intellectual Property Protection. Intellectual property could be in the form of charters, patents, trademarks, or trade secrets. Being one of many companies in the flooded and ever-changing online travel market, there is a need for KAYAK to find better ways of improving its services and keep it a step ahead of its competitors, something that it has been lauded to be doing in the years it has been in existence. To protect itself, KAYAK has filed the following applications with the U.S Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and registered its trademarks under applicable intellectual property laws. Below are additional recommended intellectual property forms that are equally important. Trademarks: The names of companies in their businesses, which are KAYAK®, SideStep®, and swoodoo™; the KAYAK slogan, Search One and Done®; and the individual company logos are all KAYAK’s trademarks, which are registered under applicable intellectual property laws. Other trademarks considered to be KAYAK’s include domain names for the websites kayak.com, kayak.co.uk, SideStep.com, and swoodoo.com, which are all part of KAYAK’s global family of websites, collectively referred to as the KAYAK websites. This is important in protecting the company from competitors or new entrants into the market who would be attempted to adopt any of the above names. Utility patent: KAYAK is a technology-driven company, whose operations are largely dependent on continuously innovating and coming up with useful features and services that make their websites and mobile applications appealing and useful to travelers and users. Examples of these innovations include voice-enabled travel search by the name Amazon Alexa, listings of in-flight amenities within search results (through KAYAK’s partnership with Routehappy), the KAYAK App on Windows 8, the KAYAK Apple Watch App, and KAYAK’s online dating meta search service. With the competition in the online travel market category extremely high, KAYAK could consider filing an application for utility patents for these ideas. However, KAYAK has patented its mobile Application, KAYAK App. Trade secrets: Though competition is cut-throat, the various innovations by KAYAK are what have given the company advantage over its competitors which have been made possible using proprietary software and algorithms. The brains behind these innovations have been a team made up majorly of software engineers and technologists. Non-disclosure agreements and post-employment restrictive covenants signed by the team would help to maintain these trade secrets. KAYAK’s role in the online travel market is therefore significantly huge, as it has provided a platform where travel suppliers and online travel agents meet users looking to purchase travel products and services. In order to stay in the game, however, KAYAK needs to patent its ideas and protect its trademarks through registration, as these are intellectual properties that need to be protected. This is absolutely necessary for its survival and to avoid endless and expensive court battles with competitors. Works Cited Roc03: , (Rochet and Tirole), Eva11: , (Evans), Roc03: , (Rochet and Tirole), Read More