What's in a name?

It was recently reported that a restaurant chain in Taiwan offered free sushi to those who had the name ‘Gui Yu’, meaning ‘salmon’ in their identification card. As is usually the case, appetites and ichthyophilia prevailed over good sense and dignity and no small amount of people turned up at government offices to have their names changed so that they could take advantage of the offer. This, in turn, prompted an announcement from the government to remind the people that there are only so many times one could change her name before being stuck forever with ‘Ms Salmon Nella’ and that people shouldn’t change their names over such trivial reasons.

What’s in a name? Do names, or brands, really matter? You may think that your product/service can speak for itself and be tempted to go brand-less. Don’t. In the absence of a brand, your customers may come up with a less-than-ideal moniker for you. And that would probably be just as bad as being stuck with ‘Ms Salmon Nella’ for the rest of your life.

In this article, we will explore some of the names which you may pick as a brand and possibly register as a trade mark.

1. Business/Company name

Your business/company name is probably the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of what your brand should be as it is likely that you have spent quite some time to come up with a winning business/company name. Of course, if your business/company name is a mouthful, like ‘Goh Kim Tiam Hardware Supplies Sdn Bhd’, you might want to consider if something else which rolls off the tongue more easily would be more suitable. Also, if your business/company name lacks distinctiveness you will find difficulty registering it as a trade mark unless it has somehow acquired distinctiveness over time.

2. Personal name

Personal names can function as brands and you don’t need to be a celebrity to be able to register your personal name as a trade mark. Bear in mind, though, that you cannot register another person’s name or likeness, be it living or dead, as a trade mark unless permission has been obtained from that other person. For example, you may wish to use the name P. Ramlee as a brand for your tongkat ali-infused colognes, but unless you have obtained consent from the late actor’s representative, you would not be allowed to use his name as a trade mark.

3. Fictional Name

Don’t fancy being a household name spoken highly of by housewives and working mums everywhere? No worries. A fictional name can also be registered as a trade mark so long as it doesn’t coincidentally refer to a real person. For example, the name Ah Huat is a registered trade mark for powdered beverages and Julie’s for baked goods. Just like the P. Ramlee example, registering the name of a character in copyrighted works or someone’s pen or stage name is not permitted even though those names are made up.

4. Domain Name

If you have an online shop, you may be interested to know that domain names like amazon.com, booking.com, mynews.com can and have been registered as trade marks. So, if you do not have a brand in mind, you may consider using your domain name as your trade mark.

Of course, one may question whether trade mark registration is necessary since the domain name is yours and anyone who keys in your domain name into their web browser would be directed to your web site and nowhere else. That’s true, but trade mark registration grants greater power in stopping others from exploiting your domain name, for example, getting a third party to stop misusing your domain name on their web site or taking down a deceptively similar domain name that has been registered by a cybersquatter.

5. Username/Social media handle

Are you an insipid corporate drone by day and a vivacious social media butterfly by night? No? Well, neither is this writer. But if you are someone who is planning to promote or sell merchandise via your social media account, or just an ordinary content creator otherwise, you can use your username or social media handle as a brand and register it a trade mark. Not that it needs mentioning, but you would want to sign up with major social media platforms also so that your username is not taken up by someone else, unless you don’t mind using different usernames for each platform.

And that’s not all. Consider that there are other things that you can register as a trade mark, like invented words, arbitrary words, signs, numerals, colours, motions and sounds. So don’t be a nondescript nasi lemak seller obscured by a web of anonymity (unless your aim is to be a local hidden treasure). Put your best foot, nay, brand forward and be noticed!

Can’t think of a good brand for your product/service? Let us do the thinking for you! We can assist you with designing, searching and registering your trade mark for you. Just give us a holler. After all, we’re here to help.

IP Owning SMEs Found To Perform Significantly Better

We've always known that Intellectual Property is one of the most important assets for SMEs and startups. However, a recent study by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) shows a strong, positive relationship between a SME's ownership of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and its economic performance.

It's found that SMEs who own Intellectual Property Rights have a 68% higher revenue per employee than SMEs that do not own any IPRs.

Further, SMEs that own two different types of IP are found to have generated 75% (patents and trademarks) and 84% (registered designs and trademarks) more earnings. And SMEs that own a combination of patents, trademarks, and registered designs generate a whopping 98% more revenue per employee compared to non-ip owning SMEs.

Almost all SMEs already generate IPRs as part of their business (the most common being trademarks). However, many SMEs do not know the value or indeed the existence of their IPRs. And even among those who do know about their IPRs, many do not know that ownership of their IPRs must be claimed (most commonly through registration).

Why not talk to us to find out what IPRs your business have and how you can own them.

Photo from <a href="https://www.freepik.com/photos/money">Money photo created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a>

Food for Naughty Thoughts

Editor's Note: This article may not be safe for work...or school...or places of worship...or...in polite company.

Prawns, pistachios and sea cucumbers do not look like they have much in common, but come every Chinese New Year, these foods will be consumed or gifted to others as they are homonymous with laughter and happiness. While these foods carry positive connotations, some foreign foods have the misfortune of sounding rather improper in English even though they have very normal meanings in their native settings. Polite people may be offended by what they’re about to read, so reader discretion is advised.

1. Cemen

Blue cheese, wasabi and anchovy dips may be turn-offs due to their strong and off-putting flavours/aromas but Cemen seems to top everything else. Adding the word ‘fresh’ to the packaging doesn’t seem to help improve matters either. But in actuality, Cemen is just a Turkish tomato paste dip with very normal ingredients, which would still be off-putting for folks who don’t like tomatoes.

2. Cream Collon

The idea of eating colons with cream would be hard to stomach for most people, but these cream-filled biscuit rolls from Japan do not contain any offal. ‘Koron’, Romanised as ‘Collon’, refers to a rolling motion, so Cream Collon = Cream Roll.

3. Megapussi

For the Finnish, this label on bags of potato crisps serves to indicate that the pussi, or bag, is mega-sized, but for the rest of us who are beyond any hope of rescue, this innocuous label would leave us sniggering like the juvenile-minded people we are.

It is a known fact that our world is made up of diverse languages and cultures, so every now and then, one would discover that a word with no special meaning in one language can have a very different and colourful meaning in another.

Of course, most people who start off their businesses would not go into analysis paralysis worrying whether their brand would carry negative connotations in a foreign market. It’s pretty much putting the cart before the horse to be thinking about whether one’s brand will be well received overseas when one has yet to succeed at home. When it’s time to go global, though, understanding the differences in language and culture can help brand owners avoid linguistic and cultural branding faux passes. Consider the following:

Coca-Cola – Folks who’ve been to the Middle Kingdom would tell of wunderbar English translations on signs like ‘Beware Door Pinch’ and ‘Slip and Fall Carefully’. What we have here is quite the opposite. A tale has it that Coca-Cola’s initial transliteration into Chinese was ‘Ke Dou Ken La’, meaning ‘bite a wax tadpole’, which understandably wasn’t the message the brand intended to convey. After some course-correcting, Coca-Cola’s Chinese brand has since been changed to ‘Ke Kou Ke Le’ which approximates to ‘tasty and happy’.

Church’s Chicken – While many of us Malaysians love our deep fried chicken, most of us are not willing to have our religious beliefs eroded just because we are unable to resist the earthly pleasures of a 3-piece chicken combo and honey butter biscuits. That’s why in Malaysia and some other parts of the world, Church’s Chicken is known as Texas Chicken so as to not offend religious sensitivities even though the franchise is named after its founder, Mr. George W. Church, Sr..

Being able to laugh at ourselves may be a good thing, but being a brand that’s a laughing stock can really hurt sales and marketability. Not to mention the headaches you'll face when trying to register the brand as a trademark in many countries whose trademark laws will not allow the registration of offensive/scandalous brands.

Get a local’s insight to understand how your brand may be perceived by customers in your target market and be flexible enough to make the necessary changes so that your brand can be a local hit in every locality in the world.