Full Beam: the Riobrand diary

20 September 2002

• Hard times for impotence drug name
• Inside story
• Marked down
• Keywords locked out
• Fizz biz takes a pop at Swiss
• Taxing time for new logo
• Hilfiger misfigures
• Sex.com saga staggers on
• Sioux me
• Panel beating
• 'Cyclone' name blown away
• Colour prejudice
• ...and finally
  

Hard times for impotence drug name

US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has encountered an unexpected problem with the name chosen for the highly-rated new product that it hopes will provide stiff competition for Viagra. They intend to call the product Cialis but it has emerged that the word is also a rare surname and members of the family concerned are now demanding that the plans be abandoned.

The product is due to go on sale next year and to re-brand it at this late stage would be hugely expensive. Public relations consultant Russell Cialis from Cheshire, England could not resist accusing the company of a 'cock-up rather than a conspiracy' but he went on to say it was a serious situation for the female and younger members of the family who would suffer teasing and victimisation if the launch went ahead. Relatives in France, Ireland, Australia and Canada have been contacted, suggesting that the dispute may escalate further.

Inside story

Intel Corporation is stepping up its efforts to protect the word 'Inside'. In Europe the company already owns Community Trade Mark registrations for the word in classes covering computers and related services but it has also filed a series of applications for the word that cover a wide range of goods and services, including food and drink products, jewellery, pharmaceuticals, vehicles, carpets, lubricants and services such as insurance and transport. However, many of the applications have encountered oppositions so it remains to be seen whether the ambitious portfolio will eventually be established.

Closer to home on the US West Coast, Intel have been challenging users of '…. Inside' marks in fields beyond its usual sectors, citing the need to prevent dilution of the company's trade marks. A company in Washington state which distributed maps in envelopes endorsed 'MAP INSIDE' decided to seek registration for the mark but Intel are threatening an opposition. They have already opposed a trade mark application for 'YOGA INSIDE' filed by the Yoga Inside Foundation: a not-for-profit organisation based in California which provides free yoga classes in schools, prisons and other institutions.

Marked down

Brand values -like share prices- can go down as well as up and during the last year many of the world's leading companies have experienced an alarming slump in the worth of what is often their most valuable asset. The latest edition of the annual Interbrand/Business Week survey of brand valuations contained bad news for many household names with almost half of the top brands declining, some by double figure percentages.

Businesses in the high-tech sector were amongst those affected, including brands such as Microsoft, IBM, Nokia, Intel and Hewlett-Packard but even Disney, a business that had appeared relatively immune to the recession, suffered a 10% drop in its value. The fortunate few who saw significant increases in their valuations included Marlboro (up 10%), McDonalds (up 4%), Coca-Cola (up 1%) and Toyota (up 5%).

Keywords locked out

RealNames Keywords, a system which provided access to leading company websites by simply inserting their brand names, has ceased normal business operations following a decision by Microsoft not to renew its vital distributor facility. Usage of Keywords -for example, typing 'shell' into Microsoft's internet Explorer browser was all that was required to access the oil company's website- had been growing and seemed poised to provide an attractive alternative to the usual domain name-based system of accessing websites.

A message on the company's website explains that without the participation of Microsoft 'it was not appropriate to keep the business active'. The statement by RealNames goes on to say that it is actively seeking buyers for its Global Keywords Platform.

Fizz biz takes a pop at Swiss

Residents of a tiny Swiss hamlet called Champagne (population 657) are foaming at the mouth, following demands by the French champagne region that they cease using the name upon their still table wines. The villagers are refusing to be bound by a clause which their Federal Government agreed to include in the Swiss-European Union Treaty, pointing out that they have been making wines for more than 1000 years and using the name Champagne since 1213 whereas their French namesakes only started producing the more famous bubbly in the 17th century.

The provisions are not due to take effect until June 2004 but the furious Swiss are wasting no time in fighting back and dozens of the wine growers are applying to the European Court of Justice to have the provision annulled. Curiously, despite challenging most users of the name Champagne, whether the British producers of the traditional non-alcoholic 'Elderflower Champagne' or Yves St Laurent the US-owned producer of a perfume called Champagne, the French tolerate the use of the names 'Grande Champagne' and 'Petit Champagne' by their own brandy-producing Cognac region.

Taxing time for new logo

The UK Inland Revenue have adopted a new logo after an assessment by the branding consultants M & C Saatchi. The words 'Inland Revenue' have been dropped, leaving only a Crown device and the colour will change from blue to green.

The fee for the work is not being disclosed but the expenditure is being defended on the grounds that they needed to communicate that they do more than 'just collect taxes'. It is scant comfort for branding practitioners to learn that the authorities are at least recycling a tiny part of the tax revenues in their direction!

Hilfiger misfigures

Southern District of New York Chief Judge Michael B Mukasey has accused Tommy Hilfiger of lacking a sense of humour and rejected a claim that a perfume for pet dogs infringes the fashion icon's trade mark. The product, called Timmy Holedigger and marketed in a pack which mimics the get-up of Tommy perfume, is one of a range that parody leading perfume brands but Hilfiger was the first one to unleash his legal beagles and issue a lawsuit.

The judge also refused to hold that use of slogans such as 'If you like Tommy Hilfiger, your pet will love Timmy Holedigger' amounted to misleading advertising. He held that even if 'a dense and humorless consumer could mistakenly conclude that plaintiff itself sponsored the humorous line of fragrances' the products are marketed in different stores and at different prices so they could not be seen as competing products.

Sex.com saga staggers on

Sex.com is estimated to be the world's most valuable internet domain name because of the enormous number of hits for the word 'sex' on search engines but that has not prevented one of its former owners from pleading for a damages award to be dropped. In November 2000 Stephen Michael Cohen was found guilty of misleading a domain name registrar into transferring the name to him and he was ordered to pay damages of US$ 65 million to the name's current owner, although the dispute rumbles on before the appeal court. Now in the latest twist, Cohen has sought to have the damages award set aside, claiming the scale of the award violates his constitutional rights.

Sioux me

A dispute between the Cleveland Indians baseball team and the Indian Motorcycle Corp, which has been simmering for several months, has escalated and is heading for the Federal courts in San Francisco. There are some similarities between the Native American logos used by each company and whilst their primary businesses are very different both have lucrative programmes involving the sale of clothing that they are determined to safeguard.

The present hostilities are in marked contrast to the harmonious relations which previously existed between the parties. For example, a 1940's advertisement for Indian motorcycles featured the baseball team's pitcher singing their praises.

The case has attracted comment by the American Indian Movement's National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media. The organisation's President Vernon Bellecourt commented: 'Both companies are fighting over intellectual and cultural property that they have stolen from us. Both should discontinue the use of such property.'

Panel beating

Panellists deciding cases brought under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) operated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) have been criticised in a recent study published by New York's Syracuse University. They are accused of bringing an inappropriate 'trademark mentality' to bear on many cases which involve legitimate and innocent uses of domain names.

The author of the study, Dr Milton Mueller, considers that this approach results in the panellists too often finding in favour of Complainants. He concludes that 'the standards and principles designed to rectify the avalanche of cybersquatting that took place in 1999 and 2000 are far too crude to be appropriate for the long run' and he believes that 'the UDRP has made it too easy to mount challenges to domain name registrations for the wrong reasons.' Panellists are also criticised for taking too narrow a view of disputes which results in a 'small but significant threat to free and robust expression on the Internet.'

'Cyclone' name blown away

Zyklon -the German word for cyclone- may at first sight appear to be an attractive choice for a new brand but the seemingly innocent name has a sinister past that has caught out two leading companies during the last month.

British sports clothing manufacturer Umbro were the first to realise that Zyklon B had been the name of the gas used in the Nazi gas chambers and they quickly discontinued sale of a Zyklon running shoe and issued a public apology. German engineering venture BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgerate quickly followed suit, reconsidering its US applications in the household goods sector for marks that incorporated the word.

Colour prejudice

Farrow & Ball, a small, upmarket manufacturer of decorating products based in Dorset, England , has accused ICI of infringing its intellectual property rights over the way the chemical giant's Dulux division is marketing a range of paints. The controversial range has been marketed as being equivalent to the Farrow & Ball shades and its colour references even incorporate the letters 'FB'. Passing off and infringement of database rights and copyright have been alleged and the case appears to be heading for the courts.

...and finally

News of yet more controversial new corporate brand names.

Not surprisingly, US telecoms company InfoNXX decided a new and more pronounceable name was required for the directory enquiry business it plans to launch in the UK when the sector is opened up to competition later this year. With help from Wolff Olins and WCRS it has chosen 'The Number' as its new straightforward brand. Next year the existing 192 number used for such services will be discontinued and in a further demonstration of their no-nonsense approach to business InfoNXX are reported to have paid £2 million for the easily remembered number '118.118'.

Meanwhile, insurance company Royal London turned to branding consultants Zelpha and Navy Blue for help in developing their new name 'bright grey' but they are keeping quiet about the cost. The company hopes the brand will help it stand out from its competitors. A spokesman told The Daily Telegraph: 'The market is perceived to be grey and dull. This will be a contrast and will buck the trend.' Well at least it should help them to keep out of the red….

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