Looks like the V Bar at The Venetian Resort, Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, is having some sort of function on “Super Sunday” – February 3rd (that date sounds familiar): Here’s a question for those responsible for clearing the ad shown above: Why bother with attempting to invite imagination (especially when the visual aspects require none) by using constrained… Continue Reading
Category Archives: AlphaWatch
Subscribe to AlphaWatch RSS FeedUniversity of California Flushes New Logo
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Social Networking, TrademarksSo, last Friday we covered this story: Critics Flush New University of California Logo. Now, we can report that the next morning, the Los Angeles Times wrote this story: Maligned UC Logo Shelved; “Time to Move On,” Officials Say. Putting aside any possible questions about cause and effect, is there a difference between flushing a… Continue Reading
Critics Flush New University of California Logo
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Trademarks, TruncationHow about a little levity for your weekend preparations? There has been a great deal of discussion among those interested in the brand new and increasingly controversial University of California logo appearing on the right above. Mashable’s discussion of the online branding outrage is here. Berkeleyside coverage is here. And, News Fix coverage is here. Brian Williams even… Continue Reading
Bits and Pieces of Brands = Trademarks
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Food, Marketing, Product Packaging, Trademarks, Truncation, USPTOD + What = Diet Coke? Let’s file this brand truncation example under the AlphaWatch category, even though there is some other stuff going on here too. The rendition of the distinctive Diet Coke soft drink can to the left really popped for me, at the point of sale, positioned on a shelf behind the clear-glass door of… Continue Reading
M Means: Mystery or Multitude?
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, TrademarksWelcome to another addition of AlphaWatch: What do you suppose the “M” is supposed to mean in M Burger? Looks like a mystery to me, based on the lack of any brand ”story” on the website. Perhaps “M” stands for the “multitude” of unrelated third parties providing restaurant services that use single letter “M” branding?
What Does “W” Mean to You?
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Food, Marketing, TrademarksThe letter "W" is an interesting one. Besides being the twenty-third letter in the alphabet, it is the only one having more than one syllable; it has three – unless it is pronounced with two: dub-yah. It is more than a bit ironic that — as a truncated single-letter brand — W, in most cases, has three times the syllables… Continue Reading
Visa Branding: A Combined Alpha & Brand Verbing Alert
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Marketing, TrademarksWe have been following the truncation trend to single-letter branding symbols for some time now. Visa appears to be heading in this direction with the relatively new V logo: Based on trademark filings at the USPTO, it appears Visa began using this single-letter V logo by itself back in 2008 with the launch of a… Continue Reading
Excuse Me, There’s Some Ketchup on Your Miracle Whip Bottle
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Food, Marketing, Product Packaging–Dan Kelly, Attorney Today, another chapter of AlphaWatch. I saw an arresting display of Miracle Whip dressing at my local grocery store a couple of weeks ago. Certain members of my household cannot stand the stuff, so we don’t generally buy it, and I had been blissfully unaware of the most recent label: I will grudgingly… Continue Reading
AlphaWatch on the Streets of San Francisco
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Marketing, TrademarksSomething like 8,000 trademark attorneys are wandering loose on the streets of San Francisco for the International Trademark Association’s annual meeting. Once again, the main attraction was "Meet the Bloggers" — this edition happened to be "Meet the Bloggers VII" — where a record crowd crammed into Swig Bar a few hours ago, from 8:00 – 10:00 PM. Thanks Marty, John, and Ron for another great event!… Continue Reading
Sed Quid in Infernos Dicet?
Posted in AlphaWatch–Dan Kelly, Attorney It has been some time since we have visited AlphaWatch, and today we turn our attention to an ad I spied on ESPN’s website this week: This takes me back to law school and a Latin phrase common in legal parlance, res ipsa loquitur, which is commonly translated, “the thing speaks for itself.” … Continue Reading
GeeWhiz: Another Edition of Trademark AlphaWatch
Posted in Advertising, AlphaWatch, Branding, Food, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Trademarks, TruncationIn this edition of AlphaWatch, it appears another major brand owner is flirting with truncation and wants to be g too (of course, not to be confused with G2 or even G for that matter), despite the fact that the products associated with each brand might be considered complementary (assuming you’re looking to break a sweat): So,… Continue Reading
Exposing Two-Face Brands
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Goodwill, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, TrademarksI’m not talking about brands that say one thing and do another. I’m not talking about brands that don’t live up to their promise. I’m literally talking about brands with two faces. One face may be confident, complicated, technical, professional, and/or formal. Let’s call him, Stephen. The other face might be friendly, simple, approachable, engaging, and/or informal… Continue Reading
Question Mark Brands?
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Famous Marks, Food, Law Suits, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Trademarks, TTABA couple of months ago I blogged about Branding Exclamations! Before that I blogged about Increasingly Intense Ellipsis Branding . . . . Now, it appears I must revisit the subject of punctuation mark branding given Cadbury Adams’ new Mega Mystery Stride brand gum, prominently featuring a question mark logo on the packaging where the S logo normally appears. The… Continue Reading
G Doesn’t Grasp Successful Marketing
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Food, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Product Packaging, TrademarksIn November, I wrote about how Gatorade’s 2009 re-branding as G has been a complete failure. G was an ill-conceived approach to slowing sales in 2007 and 2008. It damaged brand equity, confused consumers and didn’t reverse the trend of falling unit sales. In the final paragraph of my last blog, I noted that PepsiCo… Continue Reading
Gatorade-Powerade False Advertising Case Resolved, For Now
Posted in Advertising, Agreements, AlphaWatch, Branding, Dilution, Famous Marks, Food, Law Suits, Marketing, TruncationYou may recall the Gatorade v. Powerade false advertising lawsuit filed by a Pepsico entity (Stokely-Van Camp, Inc.) against rival The Coca-Cola Company back in April, discussed here (with a copy of the complaint). You also may recall how G scored an F in the courtroom, back in August, losing a hotly contested motion for… Continue Reading
What’s G? For Gatorade, G is Gruesome
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Food, Guest Bloggers, Marketing, TrademarksGatorade’s efforts to re-brand as “G” have been a dismal failure. It seems as if the brand management staff at Gatorade consumed a few too many cold beverages while making this decision, and I’m not referring to refrigerated Gatorades. The history of the G re-brand has its roots in 2007. Unit sales were flat in… Continue Reading
Serving Up More Alphabet Soup at W’s XYZ?
Posted in AlphaWatch, Branding, Marketing, TrademarksOne of Minneapolis’ most recent hotel additions, Aloft Hotel, branded as a "hip" hotel and a "vision" of Starwood’s W, apparently features the WXYZ Bar. Or is it XYZ? I’m not sure, and I’m not sure if Starwood or W have made up their minds yet either (as there appears to be different font, size, and spacing between the W and the lower case… Continue Reading
Alpha Watch: Li’l “a” Goes to the “e” Market
Posted in Advertising, AlphaWatch, Branding, Marketing, Trademarks, TruncationThe single-letter branding and trademark truncation trend continues. Can you name the retailer selling online gift cards sent by e-mail, using no other identification besides the li’l "a" shown here? Does this li’l "a" logo with a radish inside help? How about these, do they help? Well, just so you know, it’s not this retailer:
Single Letter Chewing Gum Brands: A Lasting Flavor or Just B S?
Posted in Advertising, AlphaWatch, Branding, Food, Marketing, TrademarksMy recent family road trip through the heartland had me spending more time than usual pumping gas and shopping in convenience stores, so a few chewing gum brands "gone single letter" caught my eye. As you may recall, I already have reported on Single Letter Envy in Hotel Branding…. Continue Reading
G gets an F in the Courtroom: The Gatorade v. Powerade Case
Posted in Advertising, AlphaWatch, Dilution, Fair Use, Famous Marks, Food, Law Suits, Marketing, Trademarks, TruncationVS. Almost four months ago now, I blogged about the filing of the Gatorade v. Powerade false advertising and trademark dilution lawsuit, here. At the time, some called Gatorade’s false advertising claims "dubious" and others chided Gatorade for biting Powerade’s bait to file suit. Advertising Age has now reported about the… Continue Reading
W H O, R U? Exposing Single-Letter Trademark Envy in Hotel Branding
Posted in Advertising, AlphaWatch, Branding, International, Marketing, TrademarksHotel chains appear determined to own single-letter trademarks anymore. Yes, the lodging industry appears headed toward serving up a regular bowl of alphabet soup you might say. Do you recognize any of these single letter hotel marks?
Branding Letter “G” — Will Lightning Strike or Will Thunder Be Stolen?
Posted in Advertising, AlphaWatch, Branding, Food, Marketing, Sight, Television, Trademarks, TruncationThe makers of Gatorade® apparently like to engage consumers by asking questions. They used to ask, "Is it in You?" The "it" being Gatorade®, of course. Most recently, Gatorade® has embarked on a massive teaser ad campaign — apparently to re-brand Gatorade® — asking, "What is G?" — a question that begs answering in the mysterious… Continue Reading
Brevity: Do You Have Terminal Facilities?
Posted in Advertising, AlphaWatch, Branding, Domain Names, Famous Marks, Food, Infringement, Law Suits, Marketing, Trademarks, TruncationOk, ok, I get it. My last blog post, The Paradox of Brand Protection, was way too long. Just so you know, I do recognize that we live in a sound bite world, but sometimes the educator and storyteller tangled in my DNA get the worst of me, at least when it comes to brevity…. Continue Reading
Duets Blog Authors
Steve Baird
Just so you know, I'm all about brands and the law, both professionally and personally. I regularly annoy family and friends in retail stores by focusing on product labels—not to buy the product, but to read the fine print and ask, "Who owns these brands" and "Did they really register those marks?" More...
Brent Lorentz
Although I wish I could say my path to the law was the result of a lifelong dream or calling, it was more the result mere curiosity and an affinity for leather-bound books. More...
Tiffany Blofield
Although my initial career path was to be one of the Supremes (not the musically talented ones with platform shoes and sequins, but rather, the nine wearing sensible shoes and pressed black robes in DC), I will likely stay in Minnesota as I have never lived anywhere else. More...
Brad Walz
My law career started on the ice…as a defensive hockey player (we’re not talking professionally…and if I were, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into law). More...
Derek Allen
In hindsight, writing about creativity and the law may have always been in the cards for me. I began training for a career in litigation at an early age by finding ways to disagree with pretty much anyone about pretty much anything. In my longest-running “case,” I argued with my middle school math teacher, Mrs. Jabs, for the better part of four years over whether, even if I got the right answer, I had to show my work to get full credit. More...
Martha Engel
Although my interest in gadgetry and my aptitude for math eventually led me to become an engineer, my ad executive father and artistically gifted mother fostered an appreciation for the creative from a young age. More...
Anjali Shankar
When I was in elementary and middle school, I loved writing short stories. Creativity and imagination seem to come naturally to people when they are young. More...
Timothy Sitzmann
I have always considered myself to be a creative person. Full disclosure: I'm not claiming that I've created anything good, merely that I have created things that exist.More...