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Brand Name

Brand name

, is one of the world's most famous brands]] In marketing, a brand is the symbolic embodiment of all the information connected with a product or service. A brand typically includes a name, logo, and other visual elements such as images, fonts, color schemes, or symbols. It also encompasses the set of expectations associated with a product or service which typically arise in the minds of people. Such people include employees of the brand owner, people involved with distribution, sale or supply of the product or service, and ultimately consumers. In other contexts the term "brand" may be used where the legal term trademark is more appropriate.

Concepts

Some marketers distinguish the psychological aspect of a brand from the experiential aspect. The experiential aspect consists of the sum of all points of contact with the brand and is known as the brand experience. The psychological aspect, sometimes referred to as the brand image, is a symbolic construct created within the minds of people and consists of all the information and expectations associated with a product or service. Marketers seek to develop or align the expectations comprising the brand experience through branding, so that a brand carries the "promise" that a product or service has a certain quality or characteristic which make it special or unique. A brand image may be developed by attributing a "personality" to or associating an "image" with a product or service, whereby the personality or image is "branded" into the consciousness of consumers. A brand is therefore one of the most valuable elements in an advertising theme, as it demonstrates what the brand owner is able to offer in the marketplace. The art of creating and maintaining a brand is called brand management. brand managementA brand which is widely known in the marketplace acquires brand recognition. Where brand recognition builds up to a point where a brand enjoys a mass of positive sentiment in the marketplace, it is said to have achieved brand franchise. One goal in brand recognition is the identification of a brand without the name of the company present. Disney has been successful at branding with their particular script font (originally Walt Disney's signature, but later translated to go.com). Brand equity measures the total value of the brand to the brand owner, and reflects the extent of brand franchise. The term brand name is often used interchangeably with "brand", although it is more correctly used to specifically denote written or spoken linguistic elements of a brand. In this context a "brand name" constitutes a type of trademark, if the brand name exclusively identifies the brand owner as the commercial source of products or services. A brand owner may seek to protect proprietary rights in relation to a brand name through trademark registration. The act of associating a product or service with a brand has become part of pop culture. Most products have some kind of brand identity, from common table salt to designer clothes. In non-commercial contexts, the marketing of entities which supply ideas or promises rather than product and services (eg. political parties or religious organizations) may also be known as "branding". Consumers may look on branding as an important value added aspect of products or services, as it often serves to denote a certain attractive quality or characteristic. From the perspective of brand owners, branded products or services also command higher prices. Where two products resemble each other, but one of the products has no associated branding (such as a generic, store-branded product), people may often select the more expensive branded product on the basis of the quality of the brand or the reputation of the brand owner. Advertising spokespersons have also become part of some brands, for example: Mr. Whipple of Charmin toilet tissue and Tony the Tiger of Kellogg’s.

History

Brands in the field of marketing originated in the 19th century with the advent of packaged goods. Industrialization moved the production of many household items, such as soap, from local communities to centralized factories. These factories, generating mass-produced goods, needed to sell their products to a wider market, to a customer base familiar only with local goods. It quickly became apparent that a generic package of soap had difficulty competing with familiar, local products. The packaged goods manufacturers needed to convince the market that the public could place just as much trust in the non-local product. Around 1900, James Walter Thompson published a house ad explaining trademark advertising. This was an early commercial explanation of what we now know as branding. Many brands of that era, such as Uncle Ben's rice and Kellogg's breakfast cereal furnish illustrations of the problem. The manufacturers wanted their products to appear and feel as familiar as the local farmers' produce. From there, with the help of advertising, manufacturers quickly learned to associate other kinds of brand values, such as youthfulness, fun or luxury, with their products. This kickstarted the practice we now know as branding.

Examples of well known brand names

Business Week magazine publishes an annual "brand scorecard" of the top 100 most valuable brands worldwide. Some results from the 2005 survey, which contained 53 American, 37 European, 7 Japanese, and 3 South Korean brands, are listed below. The European breakdown is as follows: 9 German, 8 French, 5 Swiss, 4.5 British, 4 Italian, 3.5 Dutch, 1 Finnish, 1 Spanish, and 1 Swedish

Criticisms of branding

Criticism has been leveled against the concept and implementation of brands, much of it associated with the "antiglobalization" movement. One of the better known criticisms of branding is found in Naomi Klein's book, No Logo. The book claims that corporations' brands serve as structures for corporations to hide behind, and that such global problems as sweatshop labor and environmental degradation have been permitted and exacerbated by branding. Criticism of branding also comes from within corporations, with some employees becoming frustrated by being limited by overall brand strategies that restrict what they can say, how they say it, and what Pantone colour to say it in. Some shareholders also have concerns about the amount of money invested in branding. Skepticism toward branding has also grown in parts of the marketing community since the end of the dotcom boom, though for a very different reason: in many ways, branding has failed to live up to its promise.

Marketing

Marketing is the process of planning and executing the pricing, promotion, and distribution of goods, ideas, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals." American Marketing Association. Many companies, particularly prior to the 1970s, were product-focused, employing teams of salespeople to push their products into or onto the market, regardless of market desire. A market-focused, or customer-focused, organization instead first determines what its potential customers desire, and then builds the product. Marketing theory and practice is justified on the belief that customers use a product or service because they have a need, or because a product has perceived benefit. Two major aspects of marketing are the recruitment of new customers (acquisition) and the retention and expansion of relationships with existing customers (base management). An emerging area of study and practice concerns internal marketing, or how employees are trained and managed to deliver the brand in a way that positively impacts the acquisition and retention of customers. Once a marketer has converted the prospective buyer, base management marketing takes over. The process for base management shifts the marketer to building a relationship, nurturing the links, enhancing the benefits that sold the buyer in the first place and improving the products/service continuously to protect her business from competitive encroachments. Marketing methods are informed by many of the social sciences, particularly psychology, sociology, and economics. Marketing research underpins these activities. Through advertising, it is also related to many of the creative arts.

Types of markets

The word market originally meant the place where the exchange between seller and buyer took place. Today we speak of a market as either a region where goods are sold and bought or particular types of buyer (summarized from Wells, Burnett, Moriarty, pg. 65–66). When strategizing specialists in marketing comment about markets they are usually referring to the different groups of people and/or organizations. The four major market groups are 1) consumer, 2) business to business, 3) institutional, and 4) reseller.

Product, price, promotion, and placement

In popular usage, the term "marketing" refers to the promotion of products, especially advertising and branding. However, in professional usage the term has a wider meaning that recognizes that marketing is customer centered. Products are often developed to meet the desires of groups of customers or even, in some cases, for specific customers. McCarthy divided marketing into four general sets of activities. His typology has become so universally recognized that his four activity sets, the Four Ps, have passed into the language. The Four Ps are:
- Product: The Product management aspect of marketing deals with the specifications of the actual good or service, and how it relates to the end-user's needs and wants.
- Pricing: This refers to the process of setting a price for a product, including discounts.
- Promotion: This includes advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and personal selling, and refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand, or company.
- Placement or distribution refers to how the product gets to the customer; for example, point of sale placement or retailing. These four elements are often referred to as the marketing mix. A marketer can use these variables to craft a marketing plan. The four Ps model is most useful when marketing low value consumer products. Industrial products, services, high value consumer products require adjustments to this model. Services marketing must account for the unique nature of services. Industrial or b2b marketing must account for the long term contractual agreements that are typical in supply chain transactions. Relationship marketing attempts to do this by looking at marketing from a long term relationship perspective rather than individual transactions.

Technique

For a marketing plan to be successful, the mix of the four "p's" must reflect the wants and desires of the consumers in the target market. Trying to convince a market segment to buy something they don't want is extremely expensive and seldom successful. Marketers depend on marketing research, both formal and informal, to determine what consumers want and what they are willing to pay for. Marketers hope that this process will give them a sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing management is the practical application of this process. Most companies today have a customer orientation (also called customer focus). This implies that the company focuses its activities and products on customer needs. Generally there are two ways of doing this: the customer-driven approach and the product innovation approach. In the consumer-driven approach, consumer wants are the drivers of all strategic marketing decisions. No strategy is pursued until it passes the test of consumer research. Every aspect of a market offering, including the nature of the product itself, is driven by the needs of potential consumers. The starting point is always the consumer. The rationale for this approach is that there is no point spending R&D funds developing products that people will not buy. History attests to many products that were commercial failures inspite of being technological breakthroughs. The next big thing is a concept in marketing that refers to a product or idea that will allow for a high amount of sales for that product and related products. Marketers believe that by finding or creating the next big thing they will spark a cultural revolution that results in this sales increase. In a product innovation approach, the company pursues product innovation, then tries to develop a market for the product. Product innovation drives the process and marketing research is conducted primarily to ensure that a profitable market segment(s) exists for the innovation. The rationale is that customers may not know what options will be available to them in the future so we should not expect them to tell us what they will buy in the future. It is claimed that if Thomas Edison depended on marketing research he would have produced larger candles rather than inventing light bulbs. Many firms, such as research and development focused companies, successfully focus on product innovation. Many purists doubt whether this is really a form of marketing orientation at all, because of the ex post status of consumer research. Some even question whether it is marketing. Diffusion of innovations research explores how and why people adopt new products, services and ideas. A relatively new form of marketing uses the Internet and is called internet marketing or more generally e-marketing, affiliate marketing or online marketing. It typically tries to perfect the segmentation strategy used in traditional marketing. It targets its audience more precisely, and is sometimes called personalized marketing or one-to-one marketing.

Criticism of marketing

Some aspects of marketing, especially promotion, are the subject of criticism. See the main article Criticism of marketing.

External links

- [http://www.knowthis.com KnowThis.com - Marketing Virtual Library] – an extensive marketing reference site
- [http://www.sosig.ac.uk/roads/subject-listing/World-cat/market.html SOSIG Marketing directory] – a directory of marketing topics available on the web
- [http://www.mediapost.com/ Media and Advertising Directory]
- [http://www.tutor2u.net/revision_notes_marketing.asp Study notes on core marketing topics]
- [http://www.knowledge-community.com/Marketing Knowledge-Community.com] - The Community of Knowledge-Workers worldwide Category:Marketing ja:マーケティング

Product (business)

__NOTOC__ In marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need. However it is much more than just a physical object. It is the complete bundle of benefits or satisfactions that buyers perceive they will obtain if they purchase the product. It is the sum of all physical, psychological, symbolic, and service attributes. A product is similar to a good. In accounting, goods are physical objects that are available in the marketplace. This differentiates them from a service, which is a non-material product. The term good is used primarily by those that wish to abstract from the details of a given product. As such it is useful in accounting and economic models. The term product is used primarily by those that wish to examine the details and richness of a specific market offering. As such it is useful to marketers, managers, and quality control specialists. A "man" can also be an "experience", which like a service is intangible. However an experience is unique to the receiving individual, based upon their history. Example: amusement parks offer rides (product), acceptance of credit cards (service), and audience participation at the dolphin show (experience). My value of the dolphin show is different from yours, and to the extent I value it more, will trade more for it (money). The word "product" is also used as a pejorative term to describe teenagers who have homogeneized themselves in the sense they have become indistinguishable due to their clothing, possessions, and brands they choose to display (at least at first glance).

Three Aspects

There are three aspects to any product or service: 1 - Core Benefit
- in-use benefits
- psychological benefits (e.g., self-image enhancement, hope, status, self worth)
- problem reduction benefits(e.g., safety, convenience) 2 - Tangible Product or Service
- product attributes and features
- quality
- styling
- packaging protection and label information
- brand name
- add another category that I desire 3 - Augmented Product or Service
- warranty
- installation
- delivery
- credit availability
- after-sale service and maintenance
- add another category that I desire

Classifying Products

Product management involves developing strategies and tactics that will increase product demand (referred to as primary demand) over the product's life cycle. One useful technique in understanding a product is the Aspinwall Classification System. It classifies and rates products based on five variables:
- 1) replacement rate - how frequently is the product repurchased
- 2) gross margin - how much profit is obtained from each product (average selling price less average unit cost)
- 3) buyer goal adjustment - how flexible are the buyers' purchasing habits in regards to this product
- 4) duration of product satisfaction - how long will the product produce benefits for the user
- 5) duration of buyer search behaviour - how long will they shop for the product

Types of Products

There are several types of products:
- consumer products - used by end users
- industrial products - used in the production of other goods
- convenience goods - purchased frequently and with minimal effort
- impulse goods - purchase stimulated by immediate sensory cues
- emergency goods - goods required immediately
- shopping goods - some comparison with other goods
- specialty goods - extensive comparisons with other goods and a lengthy information search
- unsought goods - e.g., cemetery plots, insurance
- perishable goods - goods that will deteriorate quickly even without use
- durable goods - goods that survive multiple use occasions
- non-durable/consumption/consumable goods - goods that are used up in one use occasion
- capital goods - installations, equipment, and buildings
- parts and materials - goods that go into a finished product
- supplies and services - goods that facilitate production
- commodities - undifferentiated goods (e.g., wheat, gold, sugar)
- by-products - a product that results from the manufacture of another product

Finding related topics

- list of marketing topics
- list of management topics
- list of economics topics
- list of finance topics
- list of human resource management topics
- list of accounting topics
- list of information technology management topics
- list of business law topics
- list of production topics
- list of business ethics, political economy, and philosophy of business topics
- list of business theorists
- list of economists
- list of corporate leaders
- list of companies Category:Marketing Category:Product management category:Management ja:商品

LOGO

Logo has several meanings:
- Logotype, a visual device that graphically defines a (usually corporate) identity
- Logo (TV channel)
- Logo programming language
- Honda Logo, a Japanese automobile See also:
- Icon
- No Logo, a book by Naomi Klein ja:ロゴ Logo is also a programming language developed by S. Papert based on Psycologist J. Piaget's work in developmental psychology. It was ment to help children learn programming. The core ideas of it were adapted to SmallTalk

Image

:For other uses, see Image (disambiguation) :For images in Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Images. See also: Photograph In common usage, an image (from Latin imago) or picture is an artifact that reproduces the likeness of some subject—usually a physical object or a person. Images may be two dimensional (e.g. a photograph) or three dimensional (e.g. a statue). They are typically produced by optical devices—such as a cameras, mirrors, lenses, telescopes, microscopes, etc. and natural objects and phenomena, such as the human eye or water surfaces. The word image is also used in the broader sense of any two-dimensional figure or illustration, e.g. a map, a graph, a pie chart, an abstract painting, etc. In this wider sense, images can also be produced manually (by drawing, painting, carving, etc.), by computer graphics technology, or a combination of the two (see pseudo-photograph). A volatile image is one that exists only for a short period of time, e.g. the reflection of an object by a mirror, a projection of the sun on a wall by a pinhole camera, or a scene displayed on a cathode ray tube. A fixed image, also called hardcopy, is one that has been recorded on a material object, such as paper or textile. A mental image exists in someone's mind: something one remembers or imagines. The subject of an image need not be real; it may be an abstract concept, such as a graph or function—or an imaginary entity or being.
Specialised meanings
The word also has many specialized meanings in various disciplines and contexts:
- In geometric optics, a lens can produce a real image or a virtual image.
- In many other scientific and technical contexts, image usually means a two-dimensional signal—a physical phenomenon that can be modeled as a function from a two-dimensional domain (such as the plane or a rectangle) to some set of values, usually real numbers or vectors. This sense covers not only digital images but also analog ones, such as photographs. See image processing.
- In computer graphics and digital image processing, the word image almost always means digital image or, by extension, any computer description of an image, e.g. a raster map, an image file, or a 2D computer graphics model. For embedding an image in a webpage, see HTML element#Images. A number of standard test images are in use in the image processing literature which serve as a common test of various image processing algorithms.
- In computer science the word image can also mean an exact (bit-by-bit) copy of the contents of some device, such as a hard disk, floppy disk, CD-ROM, semiconductor storage chip, etc. In particular,
- A core image (or core dump, from magnetic core memory, the predominant RAM technology of the 1960s) is a faithful copy of the data stored in the main memory of a computer or process.
- An executable image is a structured file containing machine instructions and data, which can be loaded into a process's virtual memory and executed. See kernel (computers).
- A ROM image is a copy of the contents of an entire ROM chip, typically a video game executable, which may then be stored on another medium (in the case of copyrighted games, this comes under the category of software piracy).
- In mathematics, an image of a function consist of the output values of the mathematical function.
- In finance, the image is a coefficient (stock image) that bridges a stock's fundamental value and its market price.
- In philosophy, an image is a conception or idea.
- In religion, an image is an idol or icon, although these terms have very specialised meanings within certain sects and should not be held as always synonymous.
- In social psychology an image is a representation.
- In marketing image is often used as shorthand for the perception that consumers have for a brand, its values and its benefits (often referred to as brand image).
- Image Comics is an American publisher of comic books.
- The IMAGE spacecraft currently observing the Earth's magnetosphere
- In society, people tried to build up a certain image of themselves eg. the image of being a family man
See also

- optics
- imaging, photography, and digital imaging
- image processing
- digital camera
- graphical output device
- Wikipedia:Featured pictures
- Wikipedia:Image use policy
- Wikipedia:Image requests
- Wikimedia Commons free multimedia repository, that you can use directly in Wikipedia. You can upload new images or use the stored ones.
- Wikipedia:Extended image syntax (how to include images in Wikipedia pages).
- [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_image_help Category:Wikipedia image help pages].
External links
Wikipedia:Extended image syntax
- [http://imagesearch.feedsfarm.com/ FeedsFarm Image Search]
- [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-47 "Chance Image" at The Dictionary of the History of Ideas]
- [http://images.ithaki.net Ithaki: Web search engine for images]
- [http://ejrs.com/irfanview Irfanview 3.95: Free image viewing software]
- [https://tserver.girafa.com/sec/signup.acr?fp=1 Free website images]
- [http://www.myimagesearch.com Free Online Image Search and Edit]
- [http://www.bigfoto.com Pictures free Download] Category:Optics Category:Vision ja:画像

Symbol

:For the Romanian choir, see Symbol (choir) A symbol, in its basic sense, is a conventional representation of a concept or quantity; i.e., an idea, object, concept, quality, etc. In more psychological and philosophical terms, all concepts are symbolic in nature, and representations for these concepts are simply token artifacts that are allegorical to (but do not directly codify) a symbolic meaning, or symbolism. Spoken language, for example, consists of distinct auditory tokens for representing symbolic concepts (words), arranged in an order which further suggests their meaning.

Nature of symbols

word]A symbol can be a material object whose shape or origin is related, by nature or convention, to the thing it represents: for instance, the cross is the main symbol of Christianity, and the scepter is a traditional symbol of royal power. A symbol can also be a more or less conventional image (i.e. an icon), or a detail of an image, or even a pattern or color: for example, the olive branch in heraldry represents peace, the halo is a conventional symbol of sainthood in Christian imagery, tartans are symbols of Scottish clans, and the color red is often used as a symbol for socialist movements, especially communism. More often, a symbol is a conventional written or printed sign (specifically, a glyph), usually standing for anything other than a sound (symbols for sounds are usually called graphemes, letters, logograms, diacritics, etc.). Thus mathematical symbols such as π and + represent quantities and operations, currency symbols represent monetary units, chemical symbols represent elements, and so forth. Symbols can also be immaterial entities like sounds, words and gestures. The ringing of gongs and bells, and the banging of a judge's gavel, often have conventional meanings in certain contexts; and bowing is a common way to indicate respect. In fact, every word in a natural language is a symbol for some concept or relationship between concepts. A symbol is usually recognized only within some specific culture, religion, or discipline, but a few hundred symbols are now recognized internationally. See list of common symbols and List of symbols.

Use of symbols

Human beings' ability to manipulate symbols allows them to explore the relationships between ideas, things, concepts, and qualities - far beyond the explorations of which any other species on earth is capable. The discipline of semiotics studies symbols and symbol systems in general; semantics is specifically concerned with the main meaning of words or other linguistic units. Literary works are often admired for their artful use of symbolism, i.e. the use of words, phrases and situations to evoke ideas and feelings beyond their plain interpretations; these uses are the subject of literary semiotics. Religious and metaphysical writings are also known for their use of esoteric symbolism. Alchemical writings made extensive use of symbols for spiritual and chemical processes (which they also saw as symbols of each other). The interpretation of dreams as symbols of one's experiences is a main feature of Freudian psychoanalysis and Jungian analytical psychology.

Etymology

The word "symbol" came to the English language, by way of Middle English, Old French, and Latin, from the Greek σύμβολον súmbolon from the root words σύμ- (sym-) meaning "together" and βολή bolḗ "a throw", having the approximate meaning of "to throw together", so "sign, ticket, or contract".

External links

- [http://www.symbols.com Symbol search engine]
- [http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/blsymbols.htm Religious and Cultural Symbols]
- ja:シンボル simple:Symbol

Expectation

This page deals with the concept of expectation as a thought or belief. For expectation in the context of probability theory and statistics, see expected value. ---- In the case of uncertainty, expectation is what is considered the most likely to happen. An expectation may or may not be realistic. A less advantageous result gives rise to the emotion of disappointment. If something happens that is not at all expected it is a surprise. See also anticipation, hope. An expectation about the behavior or performance of another person, expressed to that person, may have the nature of a strong request, or an order. In mathematics or statistic expectation also stands for the expected value. This is some kind of mean value over a few samples. Category:Thought

Trademark

A trademark (Commonwealth English: trade mark) is a distinctive sign of some kind which is used by a business to uniquely identify itself and its products and services to consumers, and to distinguish the business and its products or services from those of other businesses. A trademark is a type of industrial property which is distinct from other forms of intellectual property. Conventionally, a trademark comprises a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of two or more of these elements. There is also a range of non-conventional trademarks comprising marks which do not fall into these standard categories.

Fundamental concepts

The essential function of a trademark is to exclusively identify the commercial source or origin of products or services, such that a trademark, properly called, indicates source or serves as a badge of origin. The use of a trademark in this way is known as trademark use, and a trademark owner seeks to enforce its rights or interests in a trademark by preventing unauthorised trademark use. It is important to note that trademark rights generally arise out of the use and/or registration (see below) of a mark in connection only with a specific type or range of products or services. Although it may sometimes be possible to take legal action to prevent the use of a mark in relation to products or services outside this range, this does not mean that trademark law prevents the use of that mark by the general public. A common word, phrase, or other sign can only be removed from the public domain to the extent that a trademark owner is able to maintain exclusive rights over that sign in relation to certain products or services, assuming there are no other trademark objections.

Terminology and symbols

public domain.]] Terms such as "mark", "brand" and "logo" are sometimes used interchangeably with "trademark". However, the terms "brands" and "branding" raise distinct conceptual issues and are generally more appropriate for use in a marketing or advertising context. When a trademark is used in relation to services rather than products, it may sometimes be called a service mark, particularly in the United States. Other specialized types of trademark include certification marks, collective trade marks and defensive trade marks. If a trademark has become synonymous with the generic name of the product or service in connection with which it is used, it is sometimes referred to as a genericized trademark. As any sign which is capable of performing the essential trademark function may qualify as a trademark, the trademark concept extends to include a range of non-conventional signs such as shapes (ie. three-dimensional trademarks), sounds, smells, moving images (eg. signs denoting movement, motion or animation), taste, and perhaps even texture. Although the extent to which non-conventional trademarks can be protected or even recognised varies considerably from jurisdiction to jurisdiction , shape marks and sound marks are examples of non-conventional marks which are in the process of migrating out of this category. The ™ symbol may be used when trademark rights are claimed in relation to a mark, but the mark has not been registered with the government trade marks office of a particular country or jurisdiction, while the ® is used to indicate that the mark has been so registered. It is not mandatory to use either symbol, although the force of convention is such that the symbols are widely used around the world. However, it is generally unlawful to use the ® symbol with a mark when that mark is not registered. The HTML entity for the ™ symbol is ™, while the HTML entity for ® is ®. On a Microsoft Windows computer with American keyboard layout, alt+0153 types ™, while alt+0174 makes ®. On Macintosh computers, opt+2 for ™ and opt+r for ®, and their Unicode encodings are 2122 in hexadecimal/8482 in decimal for ™ and 00AE in hexadecimal/174 in decimal for ®. Either symbol is typically placed in the top left- or right-hand corner of a mark. Unregistered trademark rights may be enforced by way of a lawsuit for passing off, while the exclusive rights which attach to a registered mark can be enforced by way of an action for infringement.

Establishing trademark rights — use and registration

The law considers a trademark to be a form of property. Proprietary rights in relation to a trademark may be established through actual use in the marketplace, or through registration of the mark with the trade marks office (or "trademarks registry") of a particular jurisdiction. In many jurisdictions, trademark rights can be established through either or both means. Certain jurisdictions generally do not recognise trademarks rights arising through use (eg. China), which limits the extent to which trademark owners can enforce their rights against infringement if they do not already hold registrations for their marks. A registered trademark confers a bundle of exclusive rights upon the registered owner, including the right to exclusive use of the mark in relation to the products or services for which it is registered. The law in most jurisdictions also allows the owner of a registered trademark to prevent unauthorised use of the mark in relation to products or services which are similar to the "registered" products or services, and in certain cases, prevent use in relation to entirely dissimilar products or services. Once trademark rights are established in a particular jurisdiction, these rights are generally only enforceable in that jurisdiction, a quality which is sometimes known as territoriality. However, there is a range of international trademark laws and systems which facilitate the protection of trademarks in more than one jurisdiction (see International trade mark laws below).

Registrability and distinctive character

A trademark may be eligible for registration, or registrable, if amongst other things it performs the essential trademark function, and has distinctive character. Registrability can be understood as a continuum, with "inherently distinctive" marks at one end, "generic" and "descriptive" marks with no distinctive character at the other end, and "suggestive" and "arbitrary" marks lying between these two points.
- An inherently distinctive trademark is prima facie registrable, and comprises an entirely invented or "fanciful" sign. For example, "Kodak" had no meaning before it was adopted and used as a trademark in relation to goods, whether photographic goods or otherwise. Invented marks are neologisms which will not previously have been found in any dictionary.
- An arbitrary trademark is usually a common word which is used in a meaningless context (eg. "Apple" for computers). Such marks consist of words or images which have some dictionary meaning before being adopted as trademarks, but which are used in connection with products or services unrelated to that dictionary meaning. For example, SALTY would be an arbitrary mark if it used in connection with refrigerators, as the term "salt" has no particular connection with such products.
- A suggestive trademark tends to indicate the nature, quality, or a characteristic of the products or services in relation to which it is used, but does not describe this characteristic, and requires imagination on the part of the consumer to identify the characteristic. Suggestive marks invoke the consumer’s perceptive imagination. An example of a suggestive mark might be SALTY used in connection with sailing gear.
- A descriptive mark is a term with a dictionary meaning which is used in connection with products or services directly related to that meaning. An example might be SALTY used in connection with saltine crackers or anchovies. Such terms are not registrable unless it can be shown that distinctive character has been established in the term through extensive use in the marketplace (see further below).
- A generic term is the common name for the products or services in connection with which it is used, such as "salt" when used in connection with salt. A generic term is not capable of serving the essential trademark function of distinguishing the products or services of a business from the products or services of other businesses, and therefore cannot be afforded any legal protection. Marks which become generic after losing distinctive character are known as genericized trademarks. From the "salty" examples given above it can be noted that the distinctive character of the term is closely related to the products or services in connection with which this term is used. A general method for assessing the distinctive character of a mark is to consider a consumer's reaction to a mark. The mark may only be inherently registrable if the consumer has never encountered the mark before. On the other hand, the mark is unlikely to be inherently registrable if it informs her about any characteristic of the relevant products or services (eg. whether they are delicious, large, spicy, black or sweet, in the case of fruit). In any other case the mark may not be registrable. Another example of a descriptive mark would be a geographical word or phrase that merely indicates the origin of the product or service. For example, Houston based ice cream might find that the name "Houston ice cream" is denied trademark protection on the grounds that the word Houston is merely descriptive. However, they might have better luck with the name "North Pole ice cream". In the latter case, although North Pole is a geographical location, the ice cream is not actually made at the North Pole, and no reasonable person would assume that the phrase North Pole is literally descriptive.[http://www.findlaw.com/12international/countries/nz/articles/482.html Findlaw] Therefore marks which identify or describe a product or service, or which are in common use, or which are used as geographical indications, generally cannot be registered as trademarks, and remain in the public domain for use by anyone. For example, a generic term such as "apple", or descriptive terms such as "red" or "juicy" could not be registered in relation to apples. Primary consideration in the selection and use of trademarks should be given to marks with are inherently distinctive, as they possess the strongest distinctive character and do not require evidence of use to establish acquired distinctiveness. A fanciful, arbitrary, or suggestive term can be inherently distinctive and registrable without proof of acquired distinctiveness. Although these categories are most easily applied in relation to trademarks comprising words, the same general principles are applied in relation to all kinds of trademarks. For example, a pine tree shape is descriptive when used on pine-scented products.

Acquired distinctiveness

Although a trademark which lacks distinctive character is not prima facie registrable, most jurisdictions will permit registration if the trademark owner can demonstrate (whether through a licensee or otherwise) that the public exclusively associates the mark with a particular commercial origin or source (ie. the trademark owner or its business). In such cases the mark will be registrable on the basis that this association evidences the distinctive character of the mark as a matter of fact. If the association is proven the mark is said to exhibit or possess acquired distinctiveness in the European Union and Commonwealth jurisdictions such as Australia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, and secondary meaning in the United States. Whether a mark is registrable on the basis of acquired distinctiveness is a question of degree determined by the extent to which the mark has been used in the jurisdiction where registration is sought. In practice, trademark owners rely on evidence of use (eg. sales figures and promotional expenditure) and tools such as consumer surveys to show that consumers chiefly associate an otherwise non-distinctive mark with the trademark owner and its products or services. In the United States, if a trademark has been used for a continuous period of at least five years after the date of registration, the right to use the mark and the registration may become "incontestable" (eg. invulnerable to cancellation for non-use, but not for becoming generic). In such cases the USPTO checks and confirm whether the request for incontestability meets formality requirements, but whether a registration is incontestable at law can only be determined during proceedings involving the registration.

Signs excluded from registration

Most jurisdictions totally exclude certain types of terms and symbols from registration as trademarks, including the emblems, insignia and flags of nations, certain organisations and the modern Olympic Games, marks which are deceptive as to the origin of their associated products or services (eg. as to their geographic origin), and marks comprising signs which are contrary to accepted principles of morality (eg. marks which are obscene).

Maintaining trademark rights — abandonment and genericide

Trademarks rights must be maintained through actual use of the trademark. These rights will diminish over time if a mark is not actively used. In the case of a trademark registration, failure to actively use the mark, or to enforce the registration in the event of infringement, may also expose the registration itself to removal from the register after a certain period of time. All jurisdictions with a mature trademark registration system provide a mechanism for removal in the event of such non use, which is usually a period of either three or five years. The intention to use a trade mark can be proven by a wide range of acts as shown in the Wooly Bull and Ashton v Harlee cases. In the U.S., failure to use a trademark for this period of time, aside from the corresponding impact on product quality, will result in abandonment of the mark, whereby any party may use the mark. An abandoned mark is not irrevocably in the public domain, but may instead be re-registered by any party which has re-established exclusive and active use, including the original mark owner. Further, if a court rules that a trademark has become "generic" through common use (such that the mark no longer performs the essential trademark function and the average consumer no longer considers that exclusive rights attach to it), the corresponding registration may also be ruled invalid. For example, the Bayer company's trademark "Aspirin" has been ruled generic in the United States, so other companies may use that name for acetylsalicylic acid as well (although it is still a trademark in Canada). Xerox for copiers and Band-Aid for adhesive bandages are both trademarks which are at risk of succumbing to genericide, which the respective trademark owners actively seek to prevent. In order to prevent marks becoming generic, trademark owners often contact those who appear to be using the trademark incorrectly, from web page authors to dictionary editors, and request that they cease the improper usage. The proper use of a trademark means using the mark as an adjective, not as a noun or a verb [http://www.inta.org/info/faqsU.html] [http://www.3com.com/corpinfo/en_US/legal/trademark/prop_usage_tmb.html#1] [http://www.adobe.com/misc/trade.html], though for certain trademarks, use as nouns and, less commonly, verbs is common. For example, Adobe sent e-mails to many web authors using the term "photoshopped" telling them that they should only use the term "modified by Adobe® Photoshop® software." Xerox has also purchased print advertisements declaring that "you cannot 'xerox' a document, but you can copy it on a Xerox Brand copying machine." Such efforts may or may not be successful in preventing genericism in the long run, which depends less on the mark owner's efforts and more on how the public actually perceives and uses the mark. In fact, legally it is more important that the trademark holder visibly and actively seems to attempt to prevent its trademark from becoming generic, regardless of real success.

Enforcing trademark rights

The extent to which a trademark owner may prevent unauthorized use of trademarks which are the same as or similar to its trademark depends on various factors such as whether its trademark is registered, the similarity of the trademarks involved, the similarity of the products and/or services involved, and whether the owner’s trademark is well known. If a trademark has not been registered, some jurisdictions (especially Common Law countries) offer protection for the business reputation or goodwill which attaches to unregistered trade marks through the tort of passing off. Passing off may provide a remedy in a scenario where a business has been trading under an unregistered trade mark for many years, and a rival business starts using the same or a similar mark. If a trademark has been registered, then it is much easier for the trademark owner to demonstrate its trademark rights and to enforce these rights through an infringement action. Unauthorised use of a registered trade mark need not be intentional in order for infringement to occur, although damages in an infringement lawsuit will generally be greater if there was an intention to deceive. For trademarks which are considered to be well known, infringing use may occur where the use occurs in relation to products or services which are not the same as or similar to the products or services in relation to which the owner's mark is registered.

Wrongful or groundless threats of infringement

Various jurisdictions have laws which are designed to prevent trademarks' owners from making wrongful threats of trademark infringement action against other parties. These laws are intended to prevent large or powerful companies from intimidating or harassing smaller companies. Where one party makes a threat to sue another for trademark infringement, but does not have a genuine basis or intention to carry out that threat, or does not carry out the threat at all within a certain period, the threat may itself become a basis for legal action.

Other aspects

Consumer protection and confusion

One of the public policy objectives given for trademark law is consumer protection, that is, to prevent the public from being misled as to the origin or quality of a product or service. A trademark owner also uses trademark law to prevent unauthorised third party use of a mark which is identical to the owner’s mark, or which is so similar that use of the other party’s mark would result in a likelihood of confusion. For example, a computer manufacturer other than Apple which makes products using the APPLE trademark, or a soft drink manufacturer which calls its product 'Popsi' (in imitation of the PEPSI trademark; although the similarity does not need to be this close) may amount to trademark infringement where the owner holds a trademark registration. By identifying the source of goods or services, trademarks help consumers to identify their expected quality and assist in identifying goods and services that meet the individual consumer's expectations. Trademarks also fix responsibility. Without trademarks, a seller's mistakes or low quality products would be untraceable to their source. Therefore, trademarks provide an incentive to maintain a good reputation for a predictable quality of goods. For example, a consumer that purchases and likes Nabisco Premium saltines has a reasonable expectation that Nabisco Premium saltines found anywhere in the United States will be of uniform taste and quality. Failure to maintain consistent quality can lead to abandonment of a mark, when the law will no longer protect the trademark because it has ceased to function as an indicator of a particular product. Marks may also be abandoned by "naked licensing", which involves the owner granting rights to use the mark to another party without sufficiently controlling how or on what they use it. The mark is then released for general use. (see also below under Policing Trademarks) Because the emphasis is on consumer protection, the user of a trademark does not "own" the mark in the same way that it may own a copyright. With some exceptions (see below under Dilution), the protection of a trademark is limited to certain markets, which can be defined by either the type of product or service (grouped according to the Nice Classification), or even a particular geographic area. For example, though "Lexis" and "Lexus" are confusingly similar marks, using the former for a news and information service and the latter for luxury cars means that the public is not likely to confuse one while looking for the other, and so neither can restrict the other's use. A trademark may also be limited geographically, if it can be determined that products or services do not compete because of the physical separation of their markets. Considering the national and even global nature of most manufacturers and distributors, the reach of print and broadcast advertising, and the disregard of the internet for geographic boundaries, this limitation is likely to be an issue in fewer and fewer cases. The market-specific limitation is not interpreted strictly. Instead, attention is given to how closely related markets are (such as pancake mix and pancake syrup), or how likely it is that the mark owner will "bridge the gap" and move into the other product or geographic market.

Dilution

Main article: Dilution A trademark is diluted when the use of similar or identical trademarks in other non-competing markets means that the trademark in and of itself will lose its capacity to signify a single source. In other words, unlike ordinary trademark law, dilution protection extends to trademark uses that do not confuse consumers regarding who has made a product. Instead, dilution protection law aims to protect sufficiently strong trademarks from losing their singular association in the public mind with a particular product, perhaps imagined if the trademark were to be encountered independently of any product (e.g., just the word Pepsi spoken, or on a billboard).

Transfer and licensing of trademarks (U.S. law)

In the U.S., a trademark cannot be sold independently of the underlying goodwill. To allow such a 'sale in gross' would, the courts have said, 'be a fraud upon the public'. Thus, a trademark right can be sold, and a valid assignment made on the trademark registry, only if the conveyance of the mark is accompanying the sale of an underlying asset. Examples of assets whose sale would ordinarily support the assignment of a mark include the sale of the machinery used to produce the goods that bear the mark, or the sale of the corporation (or subsidiary) that produces the trademarked goods. Many countries allow trademarks to be licensed. Under U.S. law, the licensor must monitor the quality of the goods produced under license or risk losing the mark. A license without quality control falls under the doctrine of 'naked licensing' which the courts consider to be a form of abandonment. Trademark licenses are commonly for a limited period and include appropriate warranties of quality by the licensee plus rights to inspect and monitor for quality control by the licensor.

Comparison with patents, designs and copyright

While trademark law seeks to protect indications of the commercial source of products or services, patent law generally seeks to protect new and useful inventions, and registered designs law generally seeks to protect the look or appearance of a manufactured article. Trademarks, patents and designs collectively form a subset of intellectual property known as industrial property, because they are often created and used in an industrial or commercial context. By comparison, copyright law generally seeks to protect original literary, artistic and other creative works. Although intellectual property laws such as these are theoretically distinct, more than one type may afford protection to the same article. For example, the particular design of a bottle may qualify for copyright protection as a nonutilitarian [sculpture], or for trademark protection based on its shape, or the 'trade dress' appearance of the bottle as a whole may be protectable. Titles and character names from books or movies may also be protectable as trademarks while the works from which they are drawn may qualify for copyright protection as a whole. Drawing these distinctions is necessary but often challenging for the courts and lawyers, especially in jurisdictions such as the United States, where patents and copyrights will eventually expire into the public domain but trademarks do not. Unlike patents and copyrights, which in theory are granted for one-off fixed terms, trademarks remain valid as long as the owner actively uses and defends them and maintains their registrations with the applicable jurisdiction's trade marks office. This often involves payment of a periodic renewal fee. As a trademark must be used in order to maintain rights in relation to that mark, a trademark can be 'abandoned' or its registration can be cancelled or revoked if the mark is not continuously used. By comparison, patents and copyrights cannot be 'abandoned' and a patent holder or copyright owner can generally enforce their rights without taking any particular action to maintain the patent or copyright. Additionally, patent holders and copyright owners may not necessarily need to actively police their rights. However, a failure to bring a timely infringement suit or action against a known infringer may give the defendant a defense of implied consent or estoppel when suit is finally brought.

Trademarks and Domain Names

The advent of the Domain Name System has led to attempts by trademark holders to enforce their rights over domain names that are similar or identical to their existing trademarks, particularly by seeking control over the domain names at issue. As with dilution protection, enforcing trademark rights over domain name owners involves protecting a trademark outside the obvious context of its consumer market, because domain names are global and not limited by goods or service. This conflict was more easily resolved when the domain name user actually used his website to compete with the trademark owner. Cybersquatting, however, involves no such competition, but instead an unlicensed user registering the trademark as a domain name in order to pressure a payoff (or other benefit) from the lawful mark owner. Typosquatters—those registering common misspellings of trademarks as domain names—have also been targeted successfully in trademark infringement suits. This clash of the new technology with preexisting trademark rights resulted in several high profile decisions as the courts of many countries tried to coherently address the issue (and not always successfully) within the framework of existing trademark law. As the website itself was not the product being purchased, there was no actual consumer confusion, and so initial interest confusion was a concept applied instead. Infringing domain names were analogized to a sign identifying one store but falsely placed in front of another, in the hopes that customers will in the end not care that they were duped or will at least give up on trying to reach the right store. Most courts particularly frowned on cybersquatting, and found that it was itself a sufficiently commercial use (i.e., "trafficking" in trademarks) to reach into the area of trademark infringement. Most jurisdictions have since amended their trademark laws to address domain names specifically, and to provide explicit remedies against cybersquatters. This international legal change has also led to the creation of ICANN Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) and other dispute policies for specific countries (such as Nominet UK's DRS) which attempt to streamline the process of resolving who should own a domain name (without dealing with other infringement issues such as damages). This is particularly desirable to trademark owners when the domain name registrant may be in another country or even anonymous. Registrants of domain names also sometimes wish to register the domain names themselves (e.g., "XYZ.COM") as trademarks for perceived advantages, such as an extra bulwark against their domain being hijacked, and to avail themselves of such remedies as confusion or passing off against other domain holders with confusingly similar or intentionally misspelled domain names. As with other trademarks, the domain name will not be subject to registration unless the proposed mark is actually used to identify the registrant's goods or services to the public, rather than simply being the location on the Internet where the applicant's web site appears. Amazon.com is a prime example of a protected trademark for a domain name central to the public's identification of the company and its products. Terms which are not protectable by themselves, such as a generic term or a merely descriptive term that has not acquired secondary meaning, do not become registrable when a Top-Level Domain Name (e.g. dot-COM) is appended to it. Examples of such domain names ineligible for trademark protection would be "SOFT.COM" (merely descriptive when applied to a product such as facial tissue), or "BANK.COM" (generic for banking services).

International trade mark laws

It is important to note that although there are systems which facilitate the filing, registration or enforcement of trade mark rights in more than one jurisdiction on a regional or global basis (eg. the Madrid and CTM systems, see further below), it is currently not possible to file and obtain a single trade mark registration which will automatically apply around the world. Trade mark laws are territorial in nature and generally apply only in the applicable country or jurisdiction, a quality which is sometimes referred to as ‘territoriality’.

Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

The inherent limitations of the territorial application of trade mark laws have been mitigated by various intellectual property treaties. One such treaty is the WTO (formerly GATT) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ('TRIPs'). Amongst other things, TRIPs generally requires that the trade mark laws of member jurisdictions are compatible with each other, a quality which is known as ‘harmonisation’. For example, Article 15(1) of TRIPs provides a definition for ‘sign’ which is used as or forms part of the definition of a 'trade mark' contained in the trade mark legislation of many jurisdictions around the world.

The Madrid system for the international registration of marks

Main article: Madrid system Foremost amongst the systems which facilitate registration of trade marks in multiple jurisdictions is the 'Madrid system', which provides a centrally administered system of obtaining a bundle of single jurisdiction trade mark registrations based on an ‘international registration’. In basic terms, the primary advantage of the Madrid system is that it allows a trademark owner to obtain trademark protection in any or all member states by filing one application in one jurisdiction with one set of fees, and make any changes (eg. changes of name or address) and renew registration across all applicable jurisdictions through a single administrative process.

Community Trade Mark system

Main article: Community Trade Mark The Community Trade Mark system is the supranational trade mark system which applies in the European Union, whereby registration of a trade mark with the Office of Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (i.e.. OHIM, the trade marks office of the European Union), leads to a registration which is effective throughout the EU as a whole. The CTM system is therefore said to be unitary in character, in that a CTM registration applies indivisibly across all European Union member states. However, the CTM system did not replace the national trade mark registration systems; the CTM system and the national systems continue to operate in parallel to each other. See also European Union trade mark law.

Other systems

Other supranational trade mark systems include the system in operation in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, i.e.. Benelux.

Trade mark law in other countries

For the trade mark law which applies in a selection of other countries and jurisdictions, please refer to the following articles.
- Australian trade mark law
- Canadian trade-mark law
- European Union trade mark law
- Hong Kong trademark law
- People's Republic of China's trademark law
- United Kingdom trade mark law
- United States trademark law

External links

Trade Mark Offices

See also intellectual property organizations
- Australia [http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/ IP Australia]
- Canada [http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrksv/cipo/ Canadian Intellectual Property Office]
- European Union [http://oami.eu.int/en/ Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM)]
- Hong Kong [http://www.ipd.gov.hk/ HK Intellectual Property Department]
- United Kingdom [http://www.patent.gov.uk/ UK Patent Office]
- United States [http://www.uspto.gov/ U.S. Patent and Trademark Office]
- Germany [https://dpinfo.dpma.de/ Deutsches Patent und Markenamt]

Trade mark databases / searches

- Australia [http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/atmoss/falcon.application_start IP Australia]
- Canada [http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/cipo/trademarks/search/tmSearch.do CIPO]
- European Union (CTM) [http://oami.eu.int/CTMOnline/RequestManager/en_SearchBasic?transition=start&source=Log-in.html&language=en&application=CTMOnline OHIM]
- Hong Kong [http://ipsearch.ipd.gov.hk/trademark/jsp/index.html/ HK IPD]
- World Intellectual Property Organisation (Madrid system) [http://www.wipo.int/ipdl/en/search/madrid/search-struct.jsp/ WIPO Madrid Express]
- United Kingdom [http://www.patent.gov.uk/tm/dbase/index.htm UK Patent Office]
- United States [http://www.uspto.gov/ United States Patent and Trademark Office]
- [http://www.copat.de/markenformen/mne_markenformen.htm Welcome to the non-traditional Trade Mark Archives] — the non-traditional trade marks archives of Ralf Sieckmann includes a data base of trade marks in the field of sound, smell, taste, texture, motion, holograms worldwide

Trade mark organizations

- INTA [http://www.inta.org/ The International Trademark Association]
- WIPO [http://www.wipo.int/ World Intellectual Property Organisation]
- [http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/trademarks.html WIPO trademarks homepage]

Trade mark resources

- [http://www2.piperpat.co.nz/index.html/ Pipers virtual intellectual property library]
- [http://www.visiobrand.com/index.jsp Visiobrand brand directory]
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/browse/tradenames/ Directory of trade names] in [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org Webster's Online Dictionary] — the Rosetta Edition
- [http://www.ipnewsflash.com trademark caselaw and press ticker]
- [http://www.uspto.gov/smallbusiness/ USPTO Stopfakes.gov Small Business Resources]

Miscellaneous resources

- [http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/trademarks.html LegalMatch] Trademark Legal Resource
- [http://www.inta.org/info/faqsU.html INTA Trademark Law FAQ ]

Brand scorecards

- [http://bwnt.businessweek.com/brand/2002/index.asp BusinessWeek/Interbrand 2002]
- [http://www.brandchannel.com/images/home/bgb_2003.pdf BusinessWeek/Interbrand 2003]

Guidelines on the use of trademarks

- [http://www.3com.com/corpinfo/en_US/legal/trademark/prop_usage_tmb.html#1 3Com]
- [http://www.adobe.com/misc/trade.html Adobe]

Branding & Design

- [http://www.allaboutbranding.com All About Branding (English)]
- [http://www.brandchannel.com/ Brandchannel (English)]
- [http://www.logoterra.com Logoterra directory of logo design service providers]
- [http://www.monochrom.at/markenzeichnen/index-eng.htm Brandmarker project] by the art group Monochrom, which attempted to evaluate the actual power of commercial brands by making people draw famous logos from memory.

Corporate identity

- [http://www.cidoc.net/ cidoc (English)]
- [http://www.ci-portal.de/ Corporate Identity Portal (German/English)]
- [http://users.ncrvnet.nl/mstol/ "a website about corporate identity" (English)]

Articles

- [http://www.globalizationinstitute.org/articles/000042.php I like Brands] on the [http://www.globalizationinstitute.org/ Globalization Institute] website
- [http://www.thewoodenrobot.com/trademarks.html A treatise on modern trademark theory].

Notes

# The styling of 'trademark' as a single word is predominantly used in the United States, while the two word styling 'trade mark' is used in many other countries around the world, including the European Union and Commonwealth and ex-Commonwealth jurisdictions such as Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom. # In the European Union the smell of fresh cut grass has been registered in relation to tennis balls (registration no. 428870). As of June 2005 this is the only CTM registration for a smell trademark in the EU. In the United States, the sound of the roar of a lion has been registered as a sound trademark in relation motion pictures by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. NBC was the first to register a sound trademark in the U.S. (ie. registration no. 0916522 for NBC's distinctive sequence of three-note chimes in relation to television broadcasting services). Category:Branding Category:Intellectual property Category:Product management
- ja:商標 simple:Trademark

Marketplace

A marketplace is the space, actual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed. For other uses of the term, see also: Marketplace (radio program)
Also the name of a consumer affairs program on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
For other kinds of marketplaces, see: bazaar
See also
Market square Example of a [http://www.projectcoder.com Freelance Marketplace] ----

Brand equity

Brand equity is the value built-up in a brand. The value of a company's brand equity can be calculated by comparing the expected future revenue from the branded product with the expected future revenue from an equivalent non-branded product. This calculation is at best an approximation. This value can comprise both tangible, functional attributes (eg. TWICE the cleaning power or HALF the fat) and intangible, emotional attributes (eg. The brand for people with style and good taste).

Agents

The causal agent of brand equity, brand knowledge, consists of two main precedents: brand image and brand awareness. Brand image consists of the associations consumers make with the brand. Brand awareness is composed of the strength of the brand in consumers' minds and their ability to recall the brand when given its relative category(s). Firms may seek to influence brand equity, but it is the consumer who determines brand equity and its value.

Positivity

It can be positive or negative. Positive brand equity is created by a history of effective promotion and consistently meeting or exceeding customer expectations. Negative brand equity is usually the result of bad management. Positive brand equity can be a significant barrier to entry for prospective competitors. The greater a company's brand equity, the greater the probability that the company will use a family branding strategy rather than an individual branding strategy. This is because family branding allows them to leverage off the equity accumulated in the core brand. This makes new product introductions less risky and less expensive.

Brand name

Concepts

History

Examples of well known brand names

United States Of America

Europe

Japan

South Korea

Criticisms of branding

Marketing

Types of markets

Product, price, promotion, and placement

Technique

Criticism of marketing

Related lists

External links

Product (business)

Three Aspects

Classifying Products

Types of Products

See also

Finding related topics

LOGO

Image

Specialised meanings

See also

External links

Symbol

Nature of symbols

Use of symbols

Etymology

See also

External links

Expectation

Trademark

Fundamental concepts

Terminology and symbols

Establishing trademark rights — use and registration

Registrability and distinctive character

Acquired distinctiveness

Signs excluded from registration

Maintaining trademark rights — abandonment and genericide

Enforcing trademark rights

Wrongful or groundless threats of infringement

Other aspects

Consumer protection and confusion

Dilution

Transfer and licensing of trademarks (U.S. law)

Comparison with patents, designs and copyright

Trademarks and Domain Names

International trade mark laws

Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

The Madrid system for the international registration of marks

Community Trade Mark system

Other systems

Trade mark law in other countries

See also

Non-standard trade marks

Non-conventional trademarks

Other

Related concepts

External links

Trade Mark Offices

Trade mark databases / searches

Trade mark organizations

Trade mark resources

Miscellaneous resources

Brand scorecards

Guidelines on the use of trademarks

Branding & Design

Corporate identity

Articles

Notes

Marketplace

See also

Brand equity

Agents

Positivity

See also

Trademark