A brand name isn’t necessarily a neologism. It isn’t rare for a word to be used as a brand name (ex: Apple, Windows, Bonobo, etc.). This can lead to legal issues when this word is used by another brand for one of its products. Is this a word and therefore everybody can use it or is it a protected brand name? The general principle, known as “the Principle of Specification”, is that a word, a household name can only be…
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Buying a product from a brand is like making a deal: the brand guarantees you that you are buying a quality product. For a firm, a brand is a precious tool to help ensure loyalty and development; it is putting its reputation on the line. Thus a firm must pay close attention to its brand and any fraudulent use that could be made of it. That is why the law, both national and international, enables firms to register a trademark….
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In May this year I gave a talk at the Great British Business Show held in London’s ExCel centre. The talk was called An Introduction To Brand Naming. It’s a short overview of the basics of naming, and highlights some of the issues you will need to consider when looking for a brand name. For those of you who missed it at the show, or if you wanted to see it again, here it is below. Or to…
Read more >A brand can be considered as many things from several perspectives. A brand is a construction of customer sentiments. A brand is a value on a balance sheet. But a brand is not a legal entity unless it has trademark protection. If your name is not registered as a trademark, there may be a number of restrictions on how you can use it. For example, many people enjoy using a ‘gmail’ account. But, in certain European territories, you can only…
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