What’s in a name! Well, today there is a lot in how one goes about branding her business. It’s not just about adopting any name. Its more about how the world is going to know you until you are in the market. Industry still clings to descriptive marks thinking that they would get noticed easily or it will be easy for the consumer to reach to them. But, then by doing so, they lose the entire purpose of building a brand and having a trademark that’s truly worthwhile. It’s very important to understand that adopting a fancy name is not the only criteria to get a trademark registered. You can adopt a word with a dictionary meaning and still get it registered. 

There are many good companies in the market who have super faces to go about. Tesla, Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Wipro, Infosys, Microsoft and many more are coined marks making them very unique. Against that, Apple (for electronics), Camel (for cigarettes), Sun Microsystems (for electronics) have a dictionary meaning but aren’t descriptive of the businesses that they are in and that makes them unique as well. Tata, Mahindra, Bajaj are successful trademarks which are a symbol of trust & quality and signify family legacy. And then there are trademarks like Booking.com which are truly descriptive but factors such as humongous consumer outreach, long & continuous use and lots of branding have made it acceptable as a trademark. However, such descriptive marks shall remain largely non-registrable. So, a little effort in adopting the face of your business today, will take you a long way forward tomorrow.

“A great trademark is appropriate, dynamic, distinctive, memorable and unique.” – Primo Angeli