Name Branding

A product that does not distinguish itself from other products on the market, or does not distinguish itself in a recognizable way, will be lost in the arbitrariness of the market offers. Its individual benefits may be excellent, even unique, for the consumers, but they cannot find it among the market offers. The consumers must be able to recognize the product, i.e., identify it. To do so, they must first be able to name the product — it therefore needs its own name.

Furthermore, the consumer's positive experience with the product must not be once-only, but must be repeatable. Consumers therefore need guidance that provides them with a guarantee of quality. They must be able to trust that a product on offer comes from the same source as one they have already had a good experience with.

Word Mark

The exclusiveness of the product name must therefore be guaranteed. To this end, the word sign which constitutes the name must, if possible, be put under trademark protection as a registered trademark. If the product is offered on multiple markets, linguistic and cultural aspects of the relevant markets must be taken into account. For example, the product name must not be unpronounceable in a relevant language and must not have a negative meaning or connotation in that language. It must be freely available in the relevant country and protectable as a trademark. A word mark is entered in a trademark register if the requirements for trademark registration are met and can be found and inspected by anyone as a protected trademark. Entry in the trademark register already grants trademark protection.

Word-figurative Mark

A particular graphic design of a word mark may be eligible for trademark protection on its own. Even if the word mark itself is not protectable, its graphic design may justify protection as a registered trademark. This also applies to a combination of a word mark with an image component. Such a text and figurative sign can therefore be entered in the trademark register as a word-figurative trademark.

Trademarks Acquired Through Use

In addition to trademarks entered in the trademark register, there are also trademarks that can achieve trademark protection through use in commercial practice, namely so-called business designations. These include, for example, company identifiers such as the name, registered company name or a special designation of a business or company. While a trademark protects the designation of a product, i.e. a good or a service, a company identifier protects the designation of a business or a company. In contrast to a registered trademark, the protection of business designations is time-consuming to prove in the event of a dispute.

Another type of unregistered trademark protection that can be acquired through use is the protection of work titles, known as title protection. For example, names or special designations of books, newspapers, magazines, movies, sound works, stage works, TV formats or other comparable works such as podcasts are protected as work titles. Title protection is also acquired not through registration, but through use and proclamation.

Other Protected Product Designations

In addition to trademark law, there are a number of other legal provisions for the protection of product designations, such as the protection of indications of origin, names of plant varieties under the Plant Variety Protection Act, or vineyard names under the German Wine Act.