August 2016

-Laurel Sutton Senior Strategist & Linguist at Catchword Brand Name Development

Have you read J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire? What about Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game? Frank Herbert’s Dune? Maybe Neil Gaiman’s American Gods (coming soon to the cable network Starz)?

jhghfIf you’ve read any of those books, you’ve read a Hugo Award winner. The Hugos (named for Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories) have been given out every year since 1955 and recognize the best science fiction or fantasy works of the previous year. They are awarded to outstanding novels, short stories, graphic novels, and works in many more categories representing creativity. Unlike the Academy Awards, they’re voted on by fans of the genre and are generally regarded as one of the most prestigious science fiction awards. There’s a trademark for The Hugo Award and everything!

Don’t feel clueless if you haven’t heard of the Hugos; most people outside science fiction/fantasy fandom haven’t. I give the capsule history here to show that since its inception, the Hugo brand has stood for excellence; the yearly competition is fierce, and simply to be nominated is recognition of worthiness. Until recently, that is…Continue Reading The Hugo Awards: Tarnished by Puppies?

AnatomyofTMWarning

We wrote about the above trademark warning ad a few years back, and the claimed trademark owner likely recognizing vulnerability as to validity:

The idea generally is, let’s show and create a record that we are educating the public about our trademark rights and hopefully deterring misuses that otherwise might find their way

The RedBox brand continues to dominate the movie rental market. For the uninitiated, RedBox is a brand of movie and video game rental vending machines placed in convenient locations like grocery stores, gas stations, and fast food lobbies, like the one below:

redbox

However RedBox’s commercial success hasn’t stopped the brand from going to waste –

– Jason Sprenger – President, Game Changer Communications

Integrated marketing has caught fire over the last couple of years.  In short, this refers to the concept of an organization working with one outside agency on more than one (or all) of their marketing disciplines (including PR, advertising, graphics/digital, social media, CRM, lead generation, SEO and

Seth Godin wrote this past weekend about joint ownership of creations:

“Before you create intellectual property (a book, a song, a patent, the words on a website, a design) with someone else, agree in writing about who owns what, who can exploit it, what happens to the earnings, who can control its destiny.”

We couldn’t

Although not the title to an Eagles’ song like “Hotel California,” Hotel Chicago is in the news as it is at the heart of a trademark dispute.  As I was booking a room at the Fairmont in Chicago for next month, I must admit I thought for a second about changing my reservation to the Hotel Chicago Autograph Collection hotel by Marriott to see what all the fuss is about.

LHO Chicago River, LLC (“LHO”) owns Hotel Chicago, a boutique hotel that is part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection hotels.  Shown below.

LHO is suing Joseph Perillo, Rosemoor Suites, LLC and Portfolio Hotels & Resorts, LLC (collectively “Defendants”) who opened a new “Hotel Chicago” on Jackson Boulevard in Chicago.  It is located near LHO’s Hotel Chicago.

Earlier this year, Defendants filed two intent-to-use applications for the HOTEL CHICAGO mark.  The first intent-to-use application was for the words HOTEL CHICAGO at U.S. Serial No. 86/910,607.Continue Reading Welcome to the Hotel Chicago Dispute

-Mark Prus, Principal, NameFlash Name Development

When your brain uncovers new information, it says: “You Shall Not Pass!” Fans of “The Lord of The Rings” will recognize this as Gandalf’s quote (https://youtu.be/V4UfAL9f74I) or perhaps will recall its use in the “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” movie (https://youtu.be/l7Z05Fq2f58).

Your brain applies this gatekeeper logic to prevent itself from being overloaded by irrelevant information.  Just imagine if you had to pay equal attention to every single stimulus the brain receives…you would be overwhelmed in minutes.

The brain has a well-defined way to deal with information from the environment**. It has strict criteria for allowing incoming information to flow and it effectively uses a three-stage process to filter out irrelevant information. Like the famous “Bridgekeeper” from the “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” movie (https://youtu.be/pWS8Mg-JWSg), the brain requires that information meet three challenges before it is stored in long term memory (and not forgotten).

Stage 1: Sensory Registration – This system filters incoming environmental information to determine how important it is. In milliseconds, the brain evaluates the sensory input and relates it to the individual’s past experiences to decide what to do with it. Most of the time it decides the input is unimportant so it ignores it. This is how you can read a book while your spouse watches television. But this system can also save you because it gives dangerous stimuli (like a gunshot) maximum focus and attention.


Continue Reading Stealth Marketing: How Marketers Use Emotions To Sneak Their Messaging Past Your Brain’s Filters