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Friday Factoid – 10.12.12
This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevantCoca-Cola remains the world’s most valuable brand, which Interbrand valued in 2012 at $77.8 billion. Apple’s global brand value in 2012 was ranked second ($76.6 billion, which amount is up 126% from 2011). IBM was ranked the world’s third most valuable brand, with an estimated…
Friday Factoid – 10.5.12
In 1905, 11 year old Frank Epperson left a mixture of powdered soda, water, and a stirring stick in a cup on his porch. It was a cold night and Epperson awoke the next morning to find a frozen pop. He called it the “Epsicle.” It was a hit with his friends at school and…
Friday Factoid – 9.28.12
Although V.C. Andrews is credited with having written dozens of Gothic fiction novels, the vast majority of these works were written by a ghostwriter who has been carrying on the V.C. Andrews trademark. Virginia C. (“V.C.”) Andrews died in 1986 after having written only a few of the novels that bear her name. Source: http://www.completevca.com/library.shtml;…
Friday Factoid – 9.21.12
Trademark owners who use brands in a multi-lingual environment should research the meaning of direct translations. As two examples, “Jolly Green Giant” in Arabic directly translates to mean “Intimidating Green Monster” and KFC’s “Finger Lickin’ Good” directly translates in Chinese to mean “Eat your fingers off.” Source: http://www.global-lingo.com/top-six-translation-marketing-mistakes
Friday Factoid – 9.14.12
Although trademarks traditionally consist of words, logos or graphical designs, one may also register a trademark that identifies a unique product configuration, color, scent, sound, taste, touch or motion. Source: http://www.inta.org/Advocacy/Pages/NontraditionalMarks.aspx/
Friday Factoid – 9.7.12
The owners of trademark registrations for zipper, aspirin, escalator, granola, yo-yo, linoleum and other famous marks lost their proprietary rights because they failed to prevent their brand names from being used as a generic product descriptions. Source: http://catchwordbranding.com/catchthis/brand-naming/kleenex-fights-being-generic/
Friday Factoid – 8.31.12
It is estimated that George Foreman has earned over $200 million by lending his name to a grill, a sum that is substantially more than he earned as a boxer. Source: http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2004-12-19/george-foreman-marketing-champ-of-the-world
Friday Factoid – 8.24.12
The cost of one product adulteration or counterfeiting incident averages between 2 and 15 percent of yearly revenues, depending on company size; this could translate to a $400 million impact for a large company, or a $60 million impact for a small company. Source: Grocery Manufacturers Association and A.T. Kearney, “Consumer Product Fraud: Deterrence and…
The Weekly Scenario from Steve Shane – 8.14.12
I get questioned more and more about what same sex couples can do in terms of their estate planning. I wrote a few weeks back about a court case, “Windsor”, which was a New York District Court case which held that part of DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act) is unconstitutional and that same-sex couples…
The Weekly Scenario from Steve Shane – 8.6.12
This past week I worked with a client who has a rather large art collection, which for the most part, she is leaving to family members. However, certain pieces she plans to leave to a museum if the museum agrees to place the pieces on exhibit in the museum after her passing. Other pieces she…