ABG Intellectual Property is celebrating its 17th anniversary. ABG was created by Juan Arias, Francisco Bernardo and Vicente González (RIP) and started trading on 26 September 2003. Thanks to the commitment and passion the trio had for the IP sector, a pioneer model of a firm specialising in intellectual property was established in Spain.
ABG IP is still a relatively new company and shares its anniversary with the birthdays of the French pharmacist and chemist, Joseph Proust and the American composer George Gershwin. She is a full-blooded Libra. Since she took her first steps, she has displayed all the attributes related to her constellation: she is balanced, friendly, generates confidence and is a perfect travel companion.
What we’ve been through has been rewarding and none of what has been achieved would have been possible without our team of professionals, who have been the fundamental pillars for accumulating years of experience and prestige. For this reason, we want to make them the real protagonists of this special celebration. Since the current situation has deprived us of traditional face-to-face interactions, we have decided to positively face these adversities by taking a trip back in time. We have given our colleagues a fun flashback survey.
The most outgoing employees even accompanied their memories with graphic material. Do you want to know what they dreamed of, what idols they had, what they would have liked to have invented at 17, or if they spent their time constantly thinking “next year I’ll come of age and I can do whatever I want”? Read on if you don’t want to miss out. On our birthday let’s dust off the memories that our staff have of when they were 17 and of the year we started trading in 2003.
Back to 2003
Unfortunately 2003 has gone down in history as one with many conflicts. Virtually the whole year was marred by the Iraq war. 24% of those surveyed considered this to be the most significant event that year. However, there is room for more pleasant memories. 10% recalled Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor of California (although we don’t know if they would have voted for him). While 8% of the answers were related to science, mentioning the Human Genome Project. Some other answers were related to their private lives, with more emphasis on births, weddings, new jobs, and moving to a new house.
To liven up ABG’s regression to the year zero, we also asked what advice our colleagues would have given to themselves. 22% responded with “Take the opportunity to travel more … in case a pandemic occurs”. Maybe as a reader you can identify with our colleagues. The most hilarious advice in this section: “Buy bitcoins in April 2010 and sell on December 17, 2017!”.
Sweet 17
We knew casting their memories back to 2003 would not require a lot of mental effort, so we challenged our colleagues to go back even further to when they were 17. We are sure that more than one employee went to the pharmacy to buy a pill to stimulate their memory, so they could respond more accurately.
When asked about their favourite invention, brand or logo during their adolescence, ABG’s sweet 17 opted for leisure and informal outfits. Nike beat Adidas and Reebok in the sports section, Levi’s took the lead for the fashion of jeans for both men and women. The walkman and discman, did the same for electronics.
The question “What would you have liked to invent when you were 17?” resulted in 19% opting for Teleportation and 11% for a Time Machine. Interestingly, 11% answered “Nothing” … we can clearly see the percentage of our employees who were surrounded by mobile phones, tablets, landline and ADSL at 17.
To collect information about their idols we asked two separate questions. Einstein was chosen as the person who stood out the most at 17. Whereas on the other hand, when asked “who was your idol at 17?” a more emotional result was obtained. Here, the paternal figures received 13.5%, beating Madonna, who secured second place with 8%. Interestingly enough, 13.5% of those surveyed said that they did not think about idols or could not remember who they idolised.
Dreams of Youth
Before we brought out the cake, our colleagues had to control their emotions when we asked “What did you dream about when you were 17?” Some colleagues said “Nothing”…possibly the same ones who said “I can’t remember” in the idol section. However, we have plenty of frustrated professions at your disposal, just in case you need more than IP advice from ABG, (outside of working hours, of course): We have F1 and military pilots, explorers, English teachers, war correspondents, cartoonists, designers, singers, publicists, doctors, guitarists, surgeons, writers and even one who dreamed of being taller (and we don’t know if she will have succeeded or not because the results have been patented with an anonymity clause in all WIPO territories).
Finally, this year, it’s time to bring out the virtual cake. Click on the video and celebrate with ABG IP that we all have a past, we live the present and we look to the future.
Thanks to the founders, to the pillars and to all the external collaborators who continue to make ABG the best travel companion.
To many more dreams, ideas and innovations! Happy 17th!
