March 29, 2024
Trademark

Top Recognizable Brands Who Have Protected Their Intellectual Property with Trademarks

intellectual property

Top Recognizable Brands Who Have Protected Their Intellectual Property with Trademarks

Without question, a select few well-known brands come to the forefront of our minds when we think of particular products or industries, often subconsciously. Take shoes, for example. What first pops into your head when you think of shoe brands? Nike, Adidas, Steve Madden, or perhaps–if you’re more into high fashion–Jimmy Choo. Likewise, when considering beverage brands, what do you think of right off the bat? Pepsi, Coca-Cola, or Starbucks might be your first thought. These are just a few of the countless recognizable brands that have made a name for themselves in their chosen industry, and that’s a surefire sign of powerful brand identity. But how do these brands reach this point of international recognition? What steps did they have to take to get there? And what is intellectual property and how can you trademark it?

How to Become Recognizable

Of course, there’s no true manual to follow that guarantees your business will boom. Every niche has its own set of tactics required to establish enough credibility to grow, and, on occasion, success can be the byproduct of a happy accident. No matter what industry you decide to venture into, creating a solid brand identity is your lock, and only you have the key. If you can find a way to harness the power of your brand–through distinctive offerings, creative marketing tactics, and a loyal customer base–you deserve all the success coming your way. 

Even if you have a captivating brand story, valuable and easy-to-use goods and services, and an exceptional business model or product roadmap, there is a step you must not overlook to ensure your brand won’t backfire or fall out from underneath you. The Apple’s and Samsung’s of the world would not be as successful as they are today without proper trademarks to secure their intellectual property. If you’re serious about rising to the top, you should invest in trademarks for your brand, too. 

Let’s explore some pioneers that have achieved such success, shall we?

Nike

Nike’s brand centers around self-empowerment and promotes a can-do attitude within their promotional content, slogan, and performance wear. Not only do they have an iconic catchphrase, but their product line stands out against the competition because they encourage their customers to do their best and go for their goals. Who doesn’t like feeling inspired and empowered to hit a bullet in a target or win first place?

It’s incredible to observe the timeline of Nike, which began its business venture in 1964 and proceeded to dominate the athletic footwear space in 1980. Because of their wild success, they’ve ventured out into other goods and services, offering workout apparel and other products in athletics and athleisure. They’ve done a great job of leveraging professional athletes and celebrities–who actually use their product line, mind you–to create countless videos and marketing materials that reflect their brand values. If you’ve seen one of their ads or commercials, you’ll likely agree that they are inarguably both captivating and motivating.

All this to say, Nike has championed their brand in many ways. Their swoosh logo is simple and clean, yet beyond powerful. It’s modern, refreshing, and a way to instantly recognize their products. But can you imagine if their swoosh or slogan, “Just Do It,” was no longer associated with their brand? At this point in their success, it might not matter much, but if another athletic footwear and apparel line were to come in and swoop Just Do It when Nike was still gaining brand recognition, it would be very off-putting to customers. That is why it is critical to trademark your slogan, brand name, and design marks early on to avoid the risk of copyright infringement. Nike trademarked their slogan, name, symbol, and even patented technology for their Nike Air early on because they knew their intellectual property had the power to drive its growth.

Amazon

Amazon prides itself on fast delivery, easy returns, and excellent customer service. They formed initially as an online bookseller called “Cadabra” in 1995, and in due time basically put Barnes and Noble out of business. Starting with selling basic books more efficiently, Amazon eventually evolved into selling everything more efficiently. They are quite literally “the everything store,” a vision Jeff Bezos harnessed to create the business everyone strives to be.

But how did Amazon climb the ranks to the trillion-dollar business it now is? One interaction with searching or purchasing from their website, and you’ll notice how committed they are to their customer experience. This customer-centered approach has led them to great success, and now their business strategy can place more emphasis on investing in new technologies, enhancing logistics, and improving web services for other companies trying to grow their customer base. They have over 1,100 registered trademarks, making them one of the single biggest trademark owners in the world, alongside Apple. In fact, Amazon has the most valuable trademarks in the world today. Even “available at Amazon” is trademarked and used for licensing purposes to gain more profit. 

Coca-Cola

Another brand that utilized convincing, memorable, and personable advertisements to expand its reach–and did so with wild success–is Coca-Cola. Over the years, they have run several global marketing campaigns and trademarked over 62 slogans, such as their first slogan trademarked in 1886 “Drink Coca-Cola.” Others include “Have a coke and a smile, “”Enjoy,” “Life tastes good,’ “Open happiness,’ and “Taste the feeling,” which is part of their newer global marketing campaign. 

Evidently, Coca-Cola has poured so much into marketing to make their brand stand out, which has paid off beyond their expectations. They have not only ownership of the Coca-Cola trademark, but also the bottle shape and graphic representation of their name. That’s right; you can trademark the shape of your product if it is unique enough. This sets Coca-Cola aside from other products, alongside their patented recipe formula. Now, Coca Cola it offers more than 500 brands in more than 200 countries and territories internationally. Because they have an excess of brands, they’ve acquired more than 45,000 trademarks collectively, though they only started with a few trademarks. Coca-Cola is easily one of the world’s most victorious fast-moving consumer goods brands (FMCG) to date.

Starbucks

In several cities across the globe, it’ll seem as though Starbucks is on every street corner. Their

The brand name was trademarked and registered with the USPTO back in 1985, and their goods and services cover categories of coffee cups, canisters, mugs, tea, coffee, and brewed drinks. Starbucks logo hasn’t strayed far from its original, except for its color went from coffee bean brown to a green hue, and the image of the twin-tailed mermaid or siren.

Starbucks has ownership of several iconic trademarks, some of which are beverage names such as “Dragon Drink” and “Frappuccino.” Starbucks also owns numerous patents, some related to their technology used to grind coffee, and they even have a trademark for their infamous beverage size “Venti.” The name “Venti” is irksome to those who just want to order their morning coffee in a normal fashion, but it’s another distinctive and honorable way to stand out from the crowd. No other coffee company in the world even comes close to Starbucks, except for maybe Peets. 

Disney

No matter your age, hearing the word Disney is likely to evoke nostalgia and joy. Disney has built an unparalleled brand reputation over many decades due to their impeccable storytelling abilities, which are carried out through animated films featuring prominent and lovable characters. Because Disney Enterprises understands how vital it is to protect their intellectual property against copyright infringement, they’ve registered over 2,000 trademarks with the USPTO. Their trademarking is arguably the best asset to their company, with the Disney characters from their animated films being instantly recognizable in countless countries. 

In order for a business to use the characters from Disney–without facing litigation–they must legally request permission from Disney Enterprises. It is illegal to paint, offer, sell or use Disney Characters without an express license from the Walt Disney Company. Selling a Mickey Mouse waffle maker versus a Mickey Mouse phone case might have different implications because they are different goods, though Disney currently holds Mickey Mouse trademarks for a variety of commercial uses. Hands down, Disney is an optimal example of a business that protected their unique ideas and intellectual property early and often, which they can then license out for more profit. 

As you can see, coming up with a fanciful or arbitrary remark or name is your best bet to making it big. But it doesn’t end there. You have to invest money in marketing strategies and promotional advertising, and sometimes this is where businesses fail. They either aren’t promoting properly, are putting all their eggs in one basket, are tapping into an over saturated market, or simply aren’t creating something that people strongly desire or resonate with. Now that you’ve heard the success stories of some of the world’s biggest brands, it’s time to get moving on protecting your ideas. Who knows, you might just end up being the next big thing.

CTA – Learn More About Protecting Intellectual Property Today

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