PLAYDIGM Entertainment Licensing & Branding

How similar can brand names be?

The courts of Canada and America sometime side with the Passing Off law that precede the Trademark laws we presently have.  This could change without notice so keep you eyes open.

It comes down to making sure that your product’s name does not cause confusion with another product’s Trademarked name.  So how close can you get?

Well you can’t use the same identical Trademarked brand name as some one else’s product that already owns the same Trademark.  Unless your product is Trademarked for a separate niche of products.  So if your product is Trademarked for printed products, you are protected for using your name on anything in print form. However, it is possible that someone else could Trademark the same brand name as yours but in a separate niche, such as clothing or digital wares.  That is why you should try and obtain ‘first use’ in as many niches as possible.

Even if the similar name is in a font and style so that the letter characters look entirely different from the other Trademark, this can still be challenged in court.  In fact, people sue for less these days.

In 2006, the musical group called ‘SUPERNOVA‘ who had produced three albums since 1991, sued CBS and the reality show ‘ROCK STAR – SUPERNOVA‘ because Supernova claimed unfair competition and trademark infringement.

After many years and substantial court costs, all parties came to a settlement.  The original Supernova got to keep their Trademark (no surprise there as they had first use).  But the TV band is now known as Rock Star Supernova.  Similar but enough of a difference that should not cause confusion in the music industry or either groups fans.

Double check your Trademark prior to paying for logos to be drawn up, or letterhead and promotional material and especially before paying a Trademark agent to file the documents to secure your (hopefully original) name.  This can be done by going to the following websites:

www.cipo.gc.ca   -Canadian Intellectual Property Office

www.uspto.gov     -United States Patent and Trademark Office

The Trademark agent will conduct a professional search separate from the free site searchs above and if there is no challenge from other agents, then you will be given the go ahead to protect your Trademark in the countries you want to pay to secure.  Check the websites of every country you want to protect as you have to file separately for each.

Take your time choosing a name and maybe one day, it will be a well know brand around the world.

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I am sure most of you already know that tomorrow at 8:30pm local time – Earth Hour commences around the world.  Everyone should shut off or limit power use for one hour and join people in 3,000 other cities in saving energy.

Even though there are those who say the energy saving is insignificant, those that do this will save money, especially since this will remind them to be cautious of their energy use in the future.  Even shutting off lights for an hour is better than keeping them on, especially if no one is in the room.

This is a great young brand that is all about awareness and uniting humankind by reminding everyone that this could be one piece of the puzzle in solving global warming.  You have to agree that it is better than doing nothing.

Earth Hour also confirms that we are one human race on a small planet in a vast universe with the power to change our use of energy to ensure that our childrens’ children will be able to have electricity and fuel.   So don’t just think this means turning off the lights, try not driving or using any energy often.  Your wallet and the world will appreciate it.

This is an environmentally positive brand just like Earth Day and everyone can participate for free.  Join the human race…

I know what I’m going to do in the dark (wink-wink). What are you going to do in the dark? Be safe.

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© 2009 Sandford Tuey. All rights reserved. Tuey content is the intellectual property of Sandford Tuey. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Tuey’s content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Sandford Tuey. Sandford Tuey shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. “Tuey” and the Playdigm Logo are owned by Sandford Tuey. For additional information on Sandford Tuey and related media visit http://GalacticGladiators.com or www.Playdigm.com.

The Watchmen, a 12 issue comic series was originally published in 1986 and many believe it changed the medium forever. It is a great comic book but I personally don’t think it changed anything any more than other just as successful brands have.

It was written by Alan Moore, illustrated by artist Dave Gibbons, and colored by John Higgins. The Watchmen was an immediate commercial success and became an instant best-seller.  It’s publisher, DC Comics, profited enormously and rose above it’s constant competitor Marvel, for market dominance, almost due to this brand alone.

However, it was at the cultural level that the effects of ‘Watchmen’ are still  being felt today throughout the comic book universe and the film, television and literary realms.  Superhero’s have never looked the same in the eyes of those who read the graphic novel or will soon see the movie (launched today).

Another $12 of mine for the entertainment industry, of which an all important portion goes towards The Watchmen brand.  See you in the theater…

Trying to become successful?

The best advice for executives, entrepreneurs and professionals to achieve success is to learn how to network, become a leader, deal with conflict resolution, become an expert at negotiations, limit embarrassing yourself when addressing a crowd, and how to give and take advice.

For those who have brands already in the marketplace, please have Patience.

The previous Entertainment Licensing and Branding posts have been for the benefit of readers new to developing and marketing brands. They were intended to be educational and to get them up-to-speed. Those readers who are just recently thinking about creating a brand read on.  In future posts I will be getting into tactics and techniques on Licensing and Branding, but first we still have a few more basics for the new creators of brands.

Coming up with the idea for a new brand is the easy part.   It is the protection, development, pre-production, production and marketing stages that are costly and time consuming.  In fact, I have learned that all the work up to the completion of the production stage,  consists of only twenty-five percent of the total effort to launch and brand a project or product.

Think of it this way.  An author researches his story, writes a book, shops the novel to the publishing industry and with any luck signs a deal. From the time the light bulb of creation goes on, until their book is printed, months or years may have passed.  Once the book is hot off the presses, the hard part begins.

Or, a person comes up with the idea for a new product or logo and designs a series of mock-ups and prototypes, then revises the product and logo after receiving input from friends and professional advisers to then go on to create as close to the final ‘proof of concept’ version.

More importantly, a new Brand concept has to be original and interest the  the user, reader, investor, business partner and everyone else who can make your dream come true.  The key is how to come up with the initial idea.

Well, here’s how:

Come up with a unique idea, or a new variation on an old idea or a product and improve on it.  How does someone come up with ideas for brands? Here are a few things you can try.

1.  Of course there are the lucky people who just come up with a concept or product off the top of their head or have a vision.  I actually dreamt the Original Bruce Lee boardgame, woke up the next day and created a prototype to play test with my friends.  The dream became a reality within a year.

2. Take a previous product or brand and alter it enough to make it your own.  The key here is to ensure that you’ve changed it enough so that it does not cause confusion with the consumers of the older/previous product.  A Supreme Court decision in Canada came to the conclusion that a minimum of 30 percent difference was necessary to make the similar (yet different enough) product be legal.  Of course, every judge may view this in another way so I don’t recommend copying and altering someone elses idea.  I mean, be unique on your own.  Be a leader – not a follower.

3.  Mind Map.  That is where you take a word or idea and place it in the middle of a piece of paper. Write around this word the free form thoughts related to the word/idea and come up with all sorts of connected and non-connected things that later when you review the paper, you may find a key to something you may want to develop further.  Some times nothing comes from this but every so often one new thought or word will lead to another and another until a great idea bursts forth.  This technique works really well with a group tossing thoughts and ideas about freely.  You never know what will come up from these type of sessions.

4. Pay someone else or a company to take the seed of an idea you may have further down the road.  Engineers are great at this.  Give them a drawing of your concept and they will tell you how much it will cost to engineer it to the prototype stage (an actual working copy). This is not cheap but it is very effective for making things that you do not have the ability to make.

5. Friends sometimes come up with ideas but they never do anything with them.  Pick up on the idea and make it your own or even cut them in for a percentage or royalty.

What ever you can do to come up with new brands and ideas – do it!

Some things work for one person but may not for another.  Do what you have to do to come up with the Billion dollar idea.  Good luck with your dream.

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – ebook will be available in late 2009. Pre-order now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com and for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.

Okay. You have a product and a catchy name for it, protected by a registered Trademark and Copyright.

You should already be working on the packaging for your product, media, or whatever it is you want to produce.

For physical ancillary products (posters, books, toys, product merchandise). Make sure the Title is in a large enough font style that it can be seen in a store from twenty feet away or even if it is high on a shelf. Walk the aisles of retail outlets (I do miles every year) and notice how many packages catch your eye and how you skip those that don’t. Big titles are good and the lettering and coloring should make it stand out.

Titles must have ‘punch’ which can be achieved by highlighting letters with a complementary color border trim on an enhancing background. Check out Robert Ludlum’s Game Of Counter-Espionage and you will see what I mean.  I co-designed this book sized board game with Robert Ludlum directly (The Borne Identity series, Icarus Agenda). It was made to look like one of his hard cover books to attract his readers. This saved us time and money since we imitated layouts that Bantam-DoubleDay-Dell had already completed focus group tests to design and allocated funds to come up with.   If it isn’t broke…

Look at most novel covers and you will see what I mean. Keep it simple and show images/pictures that evoke emotion and cause curiosity from all viewers, no matter which country they live in.

The same goes for entertainment products (movies, video games, compact disks, digigital). A film and video game need the characters to click with a large audience (not just the target audience). This form of media needs to open big and have legs to see sequels made, which helps sell the ancillary licensed products. Focus the title as part of  the emotional images, yet keep it simple to read (more Baby Boomer’s eyes need larger print sizes).

Movies (ninety minute commercials) can translate into major market share and sales of  merchandise globally with the help of packaging. Choosing good looking talent, qualified producers and crews, great images used in commercials/trailers and posters that can be licensed onto  products supporting the brand, can produce more revenues than just the box office and DVD sales bring in. Everything is more interrelated than ever before.

Even music CD’s and posters, photographs and music videos should utilize the above recommendations. Brand the image and emotion to the band and its members, not just the songs. A perfect package is required to break a band’s sound.

Make your title and package enforce the emotion and theme of the entertainment product. Gain the media’s attention with angles that enhance the flavor of the press reporter’s message. Perfect packaging can only help!

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – ebook will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com and for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.