Non-Traditional Trademarks

Hotels, Ice Cream, and Shoes as Canvases for Great Brands

Seth Godin has written about how Nike is a great brand because we can imagine what a Nike hotel would look like.

So, let me ask a slightly weirder question: If Nike were an ice cream flavor, what would it taste like?

Almost forty years ago, that question prompted me to rethink my engineering path after three semesters, knowing an electronic circuits lab awaited my fourth.

Over winter break, thumbing through the University of Iowa catalog in my dad’s office, looking for an alternative, I happily discovered the pharmacy curriculum.

Had I known that law school would

A week ago, over at The Fashion Law, an Independent Source for Law, Business and Culture, an enjoyable trip down memory lane was published about the history of trademark protection regarding Louboutin’s red-colored sole mark.

What I hadn’t seen before now is Christian Louboutin’s quote “then it popped”:

“The concept shoe, with its

A little over one year ago, I blogged about Tesla’s Roadster being launched into outer space, asking who owns the right to the “Spaceman” rider’s mark? Today I post a different thought-provoking question about electric car company Rivian: Does Rivian’s use of a Ford F-150 body when testing its electric truck technology in public

At DuetsBlog, we never shy away from sharing our opinion.  It’s part of what makes us not Dr. No.  For over ten years, this has included opinions about interesting trademarks, non-traditional trademarks, boring trademarks, and controversial trademarks, and those are just from me, as well as our opinions on the opinions

A recent Mall of America and Nordstrom shopping trip (with visiting extended family), coupled with some initial moments of admitted boredom, led me to wandering through the shoe department:

Let’s just say, the stroll through the shoe department made it all worthwhile, to capture the above image, showing Louboutin’s latest fashion sense, leading to my

Like many new parents, my wife and I own a Boppy® infant support pillow.  Examining the packaging, I noticed an excellent example of “look-for advertising:”

Typically, look-for advertising is part of a campaign to build consumer recognition of a product design to a level where it can support a claim of “acquired distinctiveness,”

These lime green building sites caught my eye and jogged my trademark memory. First, the future home of the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy, at beam signing, on May 4, 2018:

Second, the expansion of the Metro Transit headquarters near downtown Minneapolis, on June 12:

Of course, the obviously common element of

Even in July, with the heat of summer still blazing, you can’t get away from ice hockey in Minnesota. However, now that the Vegas Golden Knights have settled their dispute with the U.S. Army, it was starting to look like we were running out of hockey trademark news. Thankfully, the National Hockey League came through