Grovo announced thatthe US Patent & Trademark Office has awarded the New York City–basedtechnology company a registered trademark on the term Microlearning®.The move, which was formally announced on November 15, 2017, has captured theattention of the L&D industry and is sparking animated discussions onsocial media.
Why did Grovo secure a registered trademark on Microlearning?
“Our trademark on Microlearning is a way to create adialogue in the market around the definition of ‘microlearning,’ and to elevateGrovo’s expert-led, science-backed Microlearning methodology designed toimpact employee engagement and performance from the generic, chopped-up contentwhose mission is making money, rather than making people great at their jobs,”Grovo CEO Steven Carpenter explained via email.
“The reality is that ‘microlearning’ has now become anindustry buzzword with no meaning,” Carpenter continued. “Just because someoneclaims their series of short-form videos with an emotional hook delivered inthe time of need is microlearning does not make it so. It does not mean thatthey’ve built a platform from the ground up explicitly that organizations,development professionals responsible for delivering effective programs, andlearners themselves crave.”
Grovo has been a pioneer of Microlearning since 2010. Thecompany uses the term to identify its proprietary learner-first, science-backedmethodology. Its customers include Capital One, InterContinental Hotels Group, Chevron,DDB Worldwide, and PepsiCo.
Interview with Grovo’s new CLO
Summer Salomonsen is Grovo’s new chief learning officer. LearningSolutions recently spoke with her about the Microlearning trademark, amongother issues. This interview has been lightly edited for length, clarity, andfocus.
Susan Jacobs (SJ): Whatwas Grovo’s purpose behind trademarking the term Microlearning?
Summer Salomonsen (SS):Grovo has been a leader in the microlearning field over the past several years.This was an opportunity to elevate the L&D conversation around what thisterm means, and what it can mean for both organizations and learners. L&Dhas gotten into this habit of co-opting buzzwords and not assigning value interms of the learner to them. Grovo took this opportunity to say, “Hey. Let’sstart a real conversation about the impact of Microlearning, not as just amethodology or not defined solely by its brevity, but as a strategy to reachmodern workers with real learning.”
SJ: I canunderstand starting the conversation, but why trademark a commonly used term?
SS: I think itwas an opportunity to differentiate Grovo’s viewpoint on Microlearning … that itis not simply chopping up longer learning in smaller segments. We’vetrademarked Microlearning, but now it’s up to us to bring a robust framework tothe L&D space that truly has impact for learners. That’s the end goal.Microlearning cannot be just a methodology. It needs to be part of a largerstrategy that equips and prepares workers to thrive in a cross-functionalworkplace.
SJ: Do you thinkthat people are misusing the term “microlearning”?
SS: Absolutely Ido. I think “microlearning” has become a term that has been defined temporally.People say, “Microlearning is short learning. It is learning in a small amountof time.” The challenge with that description is that we end up arguing over whetherit is three minutes or five minutes. The temporal thing is a limiting constructto the importance of microlearning as a strategy.
For us, Microlearning is more of an explicit design around asingle concept targeted at learning that blends the best of solid learningtheory with modern learning design principles. It’s that blend that others whohave co-opted this term have fallen short. When you emphasize the temporalqualities of training, you lose the depth that is needed for truly impactful Microlearning.
SJ: Are youlooking at pursuing legal action against other companies or organizations thatare using the term in a way different from how you trademarked it?
SS: I will saythat it is still under consideration.
SJ: What otherterminology are you suggesting that people use?
SS: I don’t thinkI’m at that place yet. My emphasis is in establishing Microlearning as astrategy for L&D, and focusing on the integrity of that framework. I’ve notspent a lot of time at this point thinking about alternatives to the word. Myemphasis is on legitimizing and establishing that strategy.
SJ: This is areally big deal to many companies in the industry. Will Grovo be going after other organizations or individuals whodon’t put the little registered trademark symbol (®) after the word?
SS: I am going torepeat what I said before. That’s still under consideration.
SJ: Is thetrademark registration something that has been in process for a long time?
SS: Myunderstanding, and I will clarify that I have just five weeks on the job, isthat it is something that has been in process for a while. It’s been finalizedand happens to coincide with my taking the helm as CLO.
