The launching of new top domains is an unusual event, but now the new domain .xxx has arrived. This new top domain is aimed exclusively at “the adult entertainment industry”, porn in other words. Sadly, this piece of news may affect your brand name.
In this case, the good news is that there are rules to help trademark holders block others from registering an xxx domain corresponding to their trademarks. But time is running out.
Our recommendation is that to be safe you should block your most important trademarks if you can. Feel free to contact one of our legal experts at legal@essen.se or call +46 8 503 001 00 if you need further information or would like to apply to have your trademarks blocked.
We live in a visual culture where images play an ever greater role. Unique imagery is therefore a tactical aid in helping people associate values with a brand. And the fact that 75% of all our sensory receptors are to be found in our eyes heightens the importance of unique imagery even more.
When service companies describe their activities, more often than not they use images of happy lively people in their best years – quite logical when you think about it as there’s no physical product to photograph. Seriously, what other way is there of capturing something like a pension insurance offer, a bank service or some sort of consultant service in picture form?
Apple and Audi are examples of two product trademarks with very distinct imagery. Consistent colours, angles and proportions together with other design elements provide a high level of recognition in all the media. But if we put in another product in its place, for example Nokia where Apple should be, or a Toyota where we are expecting to see an Audi, the impact of the imagery will be reduced considerably. So, a unique product is a good starting point when special imagery is going to be created for it.
There are several service companies who instead try to create originality by linking themselves to a well-known face that will provide a symbol for the values of the brand. In theory, Tiger Woods was a good solution for Accenture, who used him consistently in all their communication, before he put his foot in it and managed to produce quite different associations to the slogan “High performance. Delivered”. It was a short-sighted solution with a dramatic end in other words.
When we were developing a design platform for Folksam, we decided to look for a new type of imagery that would support the brand’s core values. We chose to visualize images from daily life rather than dream images. Some of the images don’t even have people in them, but instead indicate a human presence. A lone stick-back chair maybe reminds you more of your own sweet home than a picture of a whole house? A turn-of-the-century building perhaps tells you more about the need for home insurance than sparkling white teeth? We think so.
It is often said that pictures tell lies because they are not filtered by our rational filters, but a true picture can provide a true picture of your trademark and that is worth a lot.
We are expecting to be working in top gear this autumn, so we’ve got some reinforcement in the form of Anton Gårdsäter. Anton has just come from Henrik Nygren Design, where he’s been working for five years with customers like Moderna Museet and Spendrups. He studied at Beckmans College of Design and has done freelance work including designing the Radio P3 Gold Award.
The SATS Training Centre at St Erik’s Bridge is located in fine old premises. The building was originally constructed as a sports palace in 1929-1930 with swimming pools, tennis courts and gymnasiums. It was then taken over by Polar Studios, where ABBA recorded most of their albums, before SATS finally moved in.
Prior to the opening, we have been working with Puppet, one of Sweden’s most renowned graffiti artists. He has been given a free hand to interpret the meeting between the past and the present, and the common denominators music and movement. The colours and forms have been inspired by SATS’s new visual identity.
We warmly recommend a training session here to do the work of art justice!
A new Trademarks Act is now in place. Much of it is new, but the main features are clearly recognizable. The new aspects may however affect your trademark and we would recommend a review of your brand portfolio and the new ground rules.
We would be happy to help if you have questions about trademarks, design, copyright, advertising, the Internet and managing domain names. We also work a great deal with contracts, disputes, and processes in connection with these issues. Feel free to contact one of our legal specialists at legal@essen.se or call +46 8 503 001 00 if you would like to know how the new law will affect your trademark.
Now it’s holiday time again, but we’ve still got lots to do. During the summer we’ll be getting to grips with some new assignments for – without naming any names – an optician chain, a management consultant, a pension insurance company and a training company. Apart from this, it’s still full speed ahead for our Swedbank, LKAB and SATS teams during the summer.
If we don’t see each other or hear from each other anyway, we’d like to wish everyone a very good summer!
