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Remember when Paris Hilton was hot and her Chihuahua, Tinkerbell, was on the cover of
Modern Dog magazine?
Now, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog has news of a recent
trademark infringement case that's interesting not just to dog lovers but important to small business upstarts who like punny names and parodies of big name brands.
LVMH's Louis Vuitton unit sued a small company named Haute Diggity Dog over a line of canine products it called "Chewy Vuiton." Earlier this month a federal court ruled in favor of Chewy Vuiton, whose products are decorated with a pattern reminiscent of the luxury-goods maker's famed logo. Wrote Judge James Cacheris: "The fact that the real Vuitton name, marks and dress are strong and recognizable makes it unlikely that a parody — particularly one involving a pet chew toy and bed — will be confused with the real product."
But the victory was a pyrrhic one, reports Raymund Flandez in the WSJ's Small Business column. Legal fees for Chewy Vuiton added up to $200,000, it lost distributors and had merchandise sent back as a result of the lawsuit, and Louis Vuitton says it will appeal. "It's been a horrible experience," says one of the five employees at the Las Vegas company, which has roughly $1 million in sales. But they had no choice to fight back, she adds, "because we would have had to go out of business."
You might have seen
Haute Diggity Dog mentioned in
these magazines and newspapers, too.
It's hard to imagine
a name for a product that's a better fit.
Let’s face it, using an ordinary condom is a real pain in the butt. First, you have to tear the pack open, often using your teeth. Then you have to take the condom out of the pack – this is a slippery business at the best of times. Next, you have to figure out which is the right side up, before you can unroll it. By the time the condom’s on, the mood is halfway out the window...
So, without further ado,
let's get it on.
US Airways has an advertising opportunity for you:
Reach an attractive audience to increase revenue, grow brand awareness, drive traffic and meet your business goals by aligning yourself with the respected US Airways brand.
More information available in “the seat pocket in front of you” on all US Aiways flights (the bag pictured above is from last night’s Philadelphia to San Francisco run).
Browsing the blogroll in the sidebar of the Wordlab blog here, we came across an
interesting post where Martha Barnette, the Verbivorous Radio Host, links to a
recent article about synaesthesia in the New York Times.
If, like us, you're always checking the blogroll for interesting leftovers, you might notice new links to some of the naming and branding blogs that were mentioned on Stoked Brands, which recently took
a quick look at the popularity of blogs about naming.
Someone sent us an email.
I am opening a fast food restaurant with all kinds of food. Pizza, fried chicken, gyros, steak, ice cream etc. But I don't know what to name it. I need help ASAP. Email me immediately please.
That's it? No hi, hello, how are ya?
No name for you!Next.
The public has spoken. 20,478 votes have been cast and "Flyer and Fryer" are the winning names of the Thanksgiving Turkey and the alternate that the President pardoned today.
The turkey naming contest
Gobble the Vote was conducted on the official White House website this year -- a contest name that appears now too clever by half. Turkey names that didn't get off the ground this year included these finalists: Ben and Franklin, Plymouth and Rock, Washington and Lincoln, Corn and Copia, and the winning pair, Flyer and Fryer.
The title of this post is an allusion to
Words of a Feather: A Humorous Puzzlement of Etymological Pairs, which might be on the President's nightstand this holiday season.
Happy Thanksgiving from Wordlab.
According to
this timely news report, a James Bond fanatic has paid an amazing tribute to his hero by officially changing his name to "James (all the film titles of the Bond movies in order) Bond".
David Fearn, 23, is now known as James Dr No From Russia with Love Goldfinger Thunderball You Only Live Twice On Her Majesty's Secret Service Diamonds Are Forever Live and Let Die The Man with the Golden Gun The Spy Who Loved Me Moonraker For Your Eyes Only Octopussy A View to a Kill The Living Daylights Licence to Kill Golden Eye Tomorrow Never Dies The World Is Not Enough Die Another Day Casino Royale Bond.
On a personal note,
Bond...James Bond was also the title of my very first post on Wordlab on June 1, 2003, which is interesting in the context of the release of
Casino Royale, based on the first book in the Bond series.
Bond ... James Bond. When Ian Fleming wrote Casino Royale in 1952 at his home in Jamaica, he needed a name for his fictitious spy.
Back in the day, before Wordlab and even before the Internet, writers naturally turned to books for inspiration. In his library, Fleming spotted a book by ornithologist James Bond and decided to "borrow" the bird nerd's name.
"I was determined that my secret agent should be as anonymous a personality as possible," said Fleming. "It struck me that his [Bond's] name, brief, unromantic and yet very masculine, was just what I needed."
James Bond's bird book is still in print and, despite being first published in 1936, is still the only definitive bird identification book covering all the birds of the West Indies.
Coincidentally, Agent 007 turned out to be quite a bird watcher, himself. Check out Pussy Galore and a whole lot more at Snark Hunting where we're treated to a list of the wonderful names of the hottest Bond Girls and the world's most memorable villains from the imagination of Ian Fleming.
Wow, have I been banging away here for over three years?!
Microsoft’s “Zune” name is clearly “tune” with a “z”. But how much can you charge for that? Some naming companies are at their most creative when reverse engineering rationale for their creations. Landor can shovel pretty fast, but nobody can touch Lexicon.
From the San Francisco Chronicle, we give you the rationale behind the name “Zune”. Our comments in bold:
So Microsoft has come out with its iPod killer, er, competitor, the Zune. That raises a question: Why did they call it Zune?.
…”Additionally, the Lexicon Research Network of 60 Ph.D. linguists in 39 countries [“Zune” is “tune” with a “z”] was tapped to provide insights into the latest brands in music and video entertainment and to give us suggestions as to words, word parts, sounds and metaphors that might be applied to a ‘next generation entertainment system,’” Placek said…
…Because the device is small, Placek said, it needed a small name. Lexicon considered 3,500 candidates with seven or fewer letters. And sometimes rhymes work best: “Zune’s similar sound to ‘Tunes’ [“Zune” is “tune” with a “z”] made a great connection for us,” Placek said.
Lexicon also likes the buzz Zune gets from “z,” and that it’s a fun-sounding name [“Zune” is “tune” with a “z”] …
…Each has its own way of looking modern. IPod’s i- prefix links it to the Internet generation, while Zune is a newly coined word. Both are structurally simple. iPod is made of two elements, the prefix plus a common 3-letter word, adding up to a grand total of four letters. Zune has four letters also, is easy to pronounce, and is only one syllable long, comparing well even to iPod’s two syllables [“Zune” is “tune” with a “z”] …
Zune’s focus is liveliness and youth. The buzz of the sound “z” makes it one of the most energetic in the language. Lexicon’s studies of sound symbolism, conducted with hundreds of people in a variety of languages, have shown that word-initial “z” scores very high for communicating attributes like “lively,” “daring,” and “fast.” [“Zune” is “tune” with a “z”]
The letter z’s current popularity in respellings like “boyz” and “antz” lends a youthful irreverence. Even though it isn’t obviously derived from any real word, Zune could pass for a casual abbreviation, in the same way that ‘zza stood in for pizza with some people 10 years or so ago. Zune is clearly a fun kind of name.
[A slice of ‘zza?? wha..? “Zune” is “tune” with a “z” ]
The sounds of Zune also make a connection with music. After the highly audible z is the vowel u, made with the lips pursed as if one were whistling. The name ends with a musical ring, from the sound n. [“U” symbolizes whistling? Oh right, that’s why Igor named the other Microsoft music thingy Urge. Sorry, one forgets. But who can question the musicality of the letter “n” ? Is that an “n” sharp or flat?]
Give Lexicon credit, they are keeping a straight face throughout. Not easy.
Read more rationale behind Zune.
[ More posts about zune | More blogs about product names ] [ More posts about microsoft | More posts about naming | More blogs about product names ] [ More about product naming ]
The bridge that connects the town I live in to San Francisco may soon take the concept of “drive-thru” to new heights. Via CBS:
(AP) SAN FRANCISCO The famed Golden Gate Bridge is considering accepting corporate sponsorship.
Bridge officials say they’ve hired a company to explore the moneymaking potential of the world-famous span. They say any commercial deals would be done tastefully and sensitively.
The proposal was approved during a meeting of the bridge district’s Board of Directors.
A company is expected to spend six months researching how landmarks have boosted earnings by working with corporations.
[ More posts about naming | More blogs about naming ] [ More posts about product names | More blogs about product names ] [ More about product naming ]
The University of North Dakota, home of the
Fighting Sioux, is among schools with American Indian nicknames and logos that the NCAA considers hostile and abusive.
Over the years, controversy has arisen over the name and logo used by the teams. UND's nickname was originally "The Flickertails", but was changed to The Sioux officially in 1930 ("Fighting" was added later). Guest editorials that appeared at that time in the Dakota Student (the UND student newspaper) noted that "Sioux are a good exterminating agent for Bison" (the mascot of the nearby North Dakota State University team), "They are warlike, of fine physique and bearing", and "The word Sioux is easily rhymed for yells and songs". The choice of the name was also influenced by the Fighting Irish athletic teams of the University of Notre Dame (another "UND").
Wordlab poked fun at this controversy last year with a parody post about the change of name for the
Fighting Irish.
The college team names affected by the NCAA ban on Native American names are:
Alcorn State University (Braves) Central Michigan University (Chippewas) Catawba College (Indians) Florida State University (Seminoles) Midwestern State University (Indians) University of Utah (Utes) Indiana University-Pennsylvania (Indians) Carthage College (Redmen) Bradley University (Braves) Arkansas State University (Indians) Chowan College (Braves) University of Illinois (Illini) University of Louisiana-Monroe (Indians) McMurry University (Indians) Mississippi College (Choctaws) Newberry College (Indians) University of North Dakota (Fighting Sioux) Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Savages).
Those schools standing by their traditional names were barred by the NCAA from holding post-season tournaments, or from using their nicknames during road playoff games.
The University of North Dakota
fought to get an interim injuction against the NCAA from a district court allowing the Fighting Sioux to host this post-season with their traditional team name pending the trial of the issue early next year.
Without the will to fight the NCAA, the
Indians of McMurry University folded their tents after their season-ending game against the Hardin-Simmons Cowboys. And they dropped the ball on the name change. The school decided not to choose another moniker, at all, but will simply refer to its teams in a more general way using the school's name, such as the McMurry Men's Basketball team, leaving the school teams with an identity crisis. May we suggest a new tagline for
McMurry University:
fresh out of ideas.
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