February 11, 2015
In the 1980s in LA, Vietnamese immigrant David Tran started making his own version of a hot sauce based on a condiment from the Si Racha city in Thailand. He called it Sriracha, but never registered a trademark, and today his company, Huy Fong Foods, rakes in a hot 80 million dollars a year selling […]
December 21, 2010
There was news yesterday that HP has file for three new trademarks for mobile phones. This gives hope to the few loyal Palm fans that the Palm brand will live on under HP’s umbrella. The Palm brand might be loaded with baggage at this point, but the name has always been a favorite of mine. […]
August 17, 2010
As naming specialists know all too well, creating a brand name that passes creative and strategic muster is only part of the naming process. The ultimate test is whether that name can pass legal muster, and is trademarkable. Catchword principal Mark Skoultchi walks you through the basic principles—and common pitfalls—of preliminary trademark screening. You’ll learn […]
August 7, 2009
My friend Joe Murray at Doremus just sent me a link to this great article at Salon about the use of “Godzilla” as a trademark, and how Toho Co Ltd., the owners of the mark, will sue the tails off anyone who uses it without their permission. They’ve gone after (and won against) a Napa […]
April 9, 2009
I’m sure by now most of you have seen the announcement of the new product from Segway and GM, the PUMA. The naming consultant in me is of two minds. On the one hand, I love the name. It’s short, punchy, and relatively easy on any non-native-English speakers they may want to sell to. Furthermore, […]
October 29, 2007
Under the header of product names I’ve never understood is Febreze. It’s a bit risky putting this kind of opinion out there, since P&G has done so well with its line of fabric and air fresheners. (And in fact, I almost like the idea of a grocery-aisle name that isn’t really word play, that isn’t […]
February 10, 2006
In what should go down as one of the most ridiculous law suits in baseball history, the City of Anaheim today lost its complaint against Art Moreno, owner of the Anaheim Angels (sic). I, for one, am both surprised and disappointed by the verdict. In the spirit of full disclosure, let’s be clear that I […]
March 23, 2004
“Every day, companies lose their domain names by accident because they failed to renew. Protect your valuable online identity for 100 years and rest assured that it will be automatically renewed into the next century.” 100 year domain registration? Really? This is a new service from Network Solutions, your government-approved monopolistic domain registrar. It’s only […]