A conversation with Intellectual Property Counsel at 100%

Last updated on: June 8, 2022

Worn by top riders, 100% goes back to the early eighties. They combine both technology and design for their star products: googles, helmets, and eyewear. San Diego Padres player Fernando Tatis Jr. is one of the latest adopters of 100% sunglasses! 

As part of Red Points’ Brand Protection Heroes podcast, we’ve spoken to Carrie Hedayati, Intellectual Property Counsel at 100%. Head over to our podcast, Heroes of Brand Protection for the full interview or continue reading this article for a sneak peek. 

Key takeaways:

• 100% business overview. 
• Challenges faced as Intellectual Property Counsel.
• Advice for budding intellectual property professionals. 

The following is part of the transcript of Heroes of Brand Protection podcast, Episode 6 featuring a conversation between Carrie Hedayati and Daniel Shapiro, Red Points’ VP of Brand Relationships. 

Q stands for questions from Daniel Shapiro.

Q: For those that may not know about your business, can you give a brief overview?

100% started in the early eighties, and has its roots and its origins in the motor industry. The current owners relaunched and expanded almost ten years ago now, and entered in some new spaces with goggles being very predominant. They launched sports performance eyewear a few years later. 

If you open any motorsports magazine, you’re gonna find them all over . They are worn by a lot of top riders in both motocross and endurance events, as well as many recreational riders. Our eyewear has been very prominent in cycling and other endurance events. Recently it entered the baseball space: one of the up and coming young Major League Baseball players, Fernando Tatís Jr., wears our sunglasses regularly as do a lot of other major league players. 

Q: What’s the hardest thing you have to do as a Brand Protection Director?

Prioritizing continues to be a hard thing to do. We do business in about eighty different countries so it’s a lot of trying to figure out which markets we need to focus our energies on, as well as always balancing what’s visible. 

There’s also the challenge of always re-assessing and re-prioritizing. There are different issues that come up, different countries are hot spots at different times, new products come out, a new athlete is wearing our product, etc. 

Q: What advice would you give someone wanting to pursue a career similar to yours?

I think seeking out mentors is absolutely critical. It’s been a huge benefit to me, and I’ve also had the opportunity to reach back and provide mentorship to younger people. Somebody has done what you want to do before, and even if they haven’t they can provide some advice on how to get to a starting point. I think both sides of a mentorship relationship are beneficial.