It’s summertime!  And we all know what that means—we celebrate the spectrum of distinctiveness!  My friends just came back from the Grand Canyon.  Their pictures made my jaw drop.  I know, if only the gap between descriptive and suggestive brands were that big.

Suggestive brands are one step above descriptive brands and are the lowest category of brands which are considered inherently distinctive. Suggestive brands suggest specific qualities and traits of the good or service—like “Grandma’s” for cookies.

Arguing that a brand is suggestive and not descriptive could be one of the most important acts taken by brand counsel. So many brands you see in our community fall in this uncomfortable zone.  I’ve helped dozens of brands across this line.

Crossing the divide between descriptive and suggestive is like crossing the Grand Canyon on a tight rope—you better not misstep.  Next time you return from vacation, consider whether your brand is suggestive or descriptive, then hire me to be your brand tour guide.

It’s summertime!  And we all know what that means—we celebrate the spectrum of distinctiveness!  This week I got the following letter from my daughter at camp: “Dear Dad, Today we learned about descriptive brands.  These brands simply describe the goods being sold—like “Chewy” for cookies.  I was sad to hear that these brands can’t be protected.”

I know, it breaks my heart too.  The camp apparently didn’t tell them that descriptive brands can eventually acquire the level of distinctiveness needed to become protectable.  I can’t wait to teach her how I can set up a strategy to accomplish this.

My client Smyrna Plumbing started out of necessity but has grown into a thriving business.  Now they are concerned that they are stuck with a brand that can never be protected.  Don’t trust your brand to someone who had camp training; I can help you protect descriptive brands.

Your brand is worth protecting! Is it descriptive?  Do you want to find a way to make it protectable?  Call me!

It’s summertime! And we all know what that means—we celebrate the spectrum of distinctiveness! The most basic rule about this celebration is that you cannot claim exclusive rights to the generic term for a product or service. I can help you identify this early and find workarounds for you.

A generic term is a word used as its dictionary meaning. It’s only fair that no on can claim a monopoly on the term “Cookie” for cookies.

Charlie came to me last month with a demand letter from a competitor complaining that Charlie was using a very similar name. His name was Smith’s Roofing and the competitor was using Jones’ Roofing. We replied that since “Roofing” was generic, the real comparison was between “Smith” and “Jones.” This was one time it was good to NOT keep up with the Jones’.

Are you using a generic brand? If so, you have no brand rights in that term. Doesn’t it concern you that your competitors could use your brand to trick your customers into visiting them? If so, call me and I’ll find a workaround for you.