Tangible Product: Product Naming and Intellectual Property Protection

This report delves into the crucial aspects of product naming and intellectual property protection, focusing on tangible products. It explores the significance of product names in creating market hype and consumer appeal, emphasizing the role of familiarity, distinctiveness, and brand fit in successful product launches. The report analyzes the costs and benefits of various intellectual property mechanisms, including contracts, trade secrets, and patents, highlighting their effectiveness in safeguarding product concepts, technologies, and processes from competitors. Through case studies of successful brands like Coca-Cola and Apple, the report illustrates effective brand positioning and the impact of strategic naming on consumer perception. Furthermore, it examines how product naming strategies align with intellectual property protection to ensure pre-release buzz and safeguard against infringement. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the key elements involved in protecting product innovations and building strong brand identities, offering valuable insights for businesses aiming to navigate the complexities of the market.

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Product Naming Concerns and Intellectual Property Protection: Tangible Product
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Table of Contents
Q1: The product name.....................................................................................................................2
Q2: Two products............................................................................................................................3
Q3: The costs and benefits of using intellectual property protection mechanisms.........................4
Q4: Product naming and intellectual property protection................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................7

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Q1: The product name
The name of an existing product does matter for creating the much-needed hype for a
new product launch. Customers are willing to pay for products that are named using simple and
attractive words. The product with the most 'exotic-sounding' name attracts buyers or creates an
impulse to buy. A product name is not just a name but a short story of the product. People can
recall the memories of the past with a product when they get to hear or see the upgraded version
of the same product name.
There are a few things that make the product selling in the market. Familiarity is one of
these. When a new product has the same naming pattern as those of its predecessors, people
assume it to be good as its predecessors (Truong et al., 2017). For example, any new iPhone
launch such as ‘iPhone11’ resembles its connection with the predecessor series of iPhones. Any
upgraded version of the iPhone will be assumed as if better than all its predecessors. Consumers
and experts make these assumptions even before its launch. It goes similar to Samsung as well.
Samsung flagship smartphones such as 'Galaxy S1' or so belong to the same series of phones.
They launch an upgraded version of the series with more innovation into it every single year
(Burmann et al., 2017). Consumers generally perceive that the upgraded version is better and
more innovative than those of its predecessors.
Distinctiveness is another aspect of product naming, which creates a pre-release hype for
a new product. Maintaining uniqueness in the product name has been the strategy for a few
brands. For example, Apple does it with its products iPad, iPhone and iPod. Samsung falls to the
same category as the world has witnessed ‘Galaxy S1’ and so. BMW uses a numeric system for
its series of auto models like 118i, 320d, 520d, etc. (Burmann et al., 2017).

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Brand fit is perhaps the most important product naming strategy (Olivares-Delgado,
Pinillos-Laffón & Benlloch-Osuna, 2016). For example, the naming pattern of BMW does fit
well with a company that makes toothpaste. The name of a smartphone model such as the iPhone
does not make sense when applied for naming a bottle or else. Understandably, the brand fit is a
necessary act to ensure consumers build up accurate and positive perceptions and not get
confused.
Q2: Two products
There are many popular brands in the world, which have built up a great public image.
One of these brands is Coca Cola. The manufacturer of varieties of soft drinks is not just known
for just being the manufacturer. Instead, the customer recognizes Coca Cola as a lifestyle brand
that sells drinks and juices, which fits the lifestyle of people. Coca Cola should be given the
credit for taking a strategic route to establish and pronounce its image of a lifestyle brand. The
company does not emphasize just the product or service. Instead, it aims to target and influence a
mindset held by those people who are associated with the company in different ways (Sultan et
al., 2019). With a brand strategy and brand promise like this Coca Cola position itself as the
brand that does not just sell products but also connect with the target audience. The company
positions its image in the market of a brand that is more than just the manufacturer of popular
drinks.
Apple’s brand positioning and brand image are arguably the best in the world. Apple’s
positioning statement is “Think Different”. When looking at this positioning statement it appears
as if they are talking about something different, something that has never happened before or is

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unmatchable. Indeed, Apple effectively justifies its positioning strategy as the world has seen the
company as flocking many features together into its range of smartphones. The brand promise of
Apple is arguably the best and highly popular. Logical branding has been its key to success in the
computer industry (Payne, 2017). Apple's iPhones, for example, introduce innovation with its
new product. It is generally known to people that any new launch of Apple will have better
features and specifications compared to its predecessor models. Apple is doing it for years now
and continues to deliver the same.
These are just a few examples of brands that reinforce the mind of the customer. Many
other brands successfully manage to influence the impulse of the customer. The list of such
brands includes Geico, Coors Light, BMW, Harley Davidson, Nike, Wegmans, H&M and
Starbucks.
Q3: The costs and benefits of using intellectual property protection
mechanisms
There are various ways to prevent the concept of a product, the technology, the process
and much more from getting copied by competitors. This can be done using intellectual property
mechanisms. IP property mechanisms can be classified into three distinct categories such as
Contracts, Trade Secrets and Patents. Contracts can be used to protect IP rights if the technology
does not have any patent protection. A contract applies to employees and the direct partners of a
business such as suppliers, contractors and distributors. Contracts can also be applied to the
customer for selling industrial machinery or else (IndustryWeek, 2020). The costs to enter into
contracts will involve the legal fees associated with the preparation and the negotiation purpose.

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The legal fees can range between $3,000 - $10,000 per contract with a business partner. The
charges will vary in the given range depending on the complexity of the contract and the length
of negotiations (IndustryWeek, 2020).
Trade secrets can be used to prevent the actual or potential economic value from getting
exposed to general people. Trade secrets, unlike contracts, charge nothing to obtain it; however,
they attract some cost of maintenance (IndustryWeek, 2020).
Patents are usually the strongest and most expensive in keeping the technology safe from
any copy issues. Business buyers often put more to patents to ensure their broader spectrum of
business is pr0otected form any copy issue. The costs of obtaining international patents can vary
from one jurisdiction to another. In the U.S. attorney, $12,000 is the cost of obtaining the patent.
It is inclusive of an additional $600 cost to be paid for preparing transmittal documents as well as
fill the U.S. application (IndustryWeek, 2020).
Q4: Product naming and intellectual property protection
Product naming as discussed above is a branding strategy used to position the brand
effectively into its target market. Product naming, if done accurately, will ensure that there will
be a pre-release buzz in the target market. The examples of Apple and Coca-Cola can be very
useful in identifying and designing the product name. Product naming if done using the simple
words; however, showing its application in real-term will do the best for the product (Topolinski,
2017).
A patent can be obtained to protect the functional as well as utilitarian aspects of a
product to launch soon, process or method, machine, the composition of matter. The composition

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of matter is inclusive of a chemical or a pharmaceutical compound. Patents unarguably the only
practical IP protection mechanism to protect entities from being copied by competitors. This
applies to all those entities for which there is no contractual relationship. A patent applied to a
technology prevent it from being copied. A patent applies to technology or property, which
cannot be protected using a trade secret. Patents can also help protect against independent
development by competitors. A competitor would not even know of the patent to proceed to
infringe it (Kwon & Drev, 2020).
By obtaining the patent for a product, the technology used in the production can be
prevented from any infringe by competitors. This thing is very vital considering that the
competition has increased and companies are looking to race ahead to another.

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References
Burmann, C., Riley, N. M., Halaszovich, T., & Schade, M. (2017). Strategic Brand Management.
In Identity-Based Brand Management (pp. 91-172). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.
IndustryWeek. (2020). A Cost-Effective Approach to Maximizing International Intellectual
Property Protection. Retrieved 28 February 2020, from
https://www.industryweek.com/the-economy/regulations/article/21946714/a-
costeffective-approach-to-maximizing-international-intellectual-property-protection
Kwon, S., & Drev, M. (2020). Defensive Patent Aggregators as Shields against Patent Assertion
Entities? Theoretical and Empirical Analysis. Technological Forecasting and Social
Change, 151, 119745.
Olivares-Delgado, F., Pinillos-Laffón, A., & Benlloch-Osuna, M. T. (2016). An approach to
patronymic names as a resource for familiness and as a variable for family business
identification. European Journal of Family Business, 6(1), 32-45.
Payne, B. (2017). Brand Positioning and its Usefulness for Brand Management: the Case of
Apple Inc. Newcastle business school student journal, 1(1), 51-57.
Sultan, K., Akram, S., Abdulhaliq, S., Jamal, D., & Saleem, R. (2019). A Strategic Approach to
the Consumer Perception of Brand on the Basis of Brand Awareness and Brand
Loyalty. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-
4478), 8(3), 33-44.
Topolinski, S. (2017). Articulation patterns in names: A hidden route to consumer
preference. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2(4), 382-391.

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Truong, Y., Klink, R. R., Simmons, G., Grinstein, A., & Palmer, M. (2017). Branding strategies
for high-technology products: The effects of consumer and product
innovativeness. Journal of Business Research, 70, 85-91.