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Trademark |
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A brand consists of a single insight or idea in the customer's mind, wedded to a signa name and symbolthat serves as a convenient shorthand for that idea.
Trouble may arise if two or more ideas (products or services) share the same name or symbol. Apple Computer was sued in the early 1980s for using the same name as the Beatles' record company. The suit ended with an agreement that the computer firm would stay out of the music business.
This is a common sort of arrangement. There is no problem with the same name (or a similar logo) being used by companies that operate in completely different categories or geographic areas: customers are not likely to be confused. However, disagreements can arise when the boundaries blur, as when Apple started selling songs through its online iTunes service, or when the American Budweiser beer tried to move into European markets claimed by the Czech Budweiser, resulting in protracted legal disputes.
A strong brand is the most powerful means for fending off competitors when other tactics such as copyright protection or exclusive distribution are exhausted. When LEGO invented its interlocking plastic bricks in the 1940s, it was able to patent them. But patents eventually |
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