What is a trademark?
A trademark is defined as a recognizable word or phrase that signifies a specific product and legally separates it from other, similar products and entities. Trademarks are vital to businesses for a multitude of reasons including that they can assist in establishing brand distinguishability, make it easier to expand and market the brand, and most importantly, helps protect the brand from those wishing to copy it. Not only this, but they never expire, so it makes sense for companies to make an investment into one if they expect their brand to do well. It is quite easy to determine whether or not a product is trademarked. They are usually denoted by the registered trademark symbol, which I have attached to the left below. This shows that the trademark has been registered correctly with the government and is not to be confused with (but commonly is) the unregistered trademark symbol to the right.
Starbucks’s Frappuccinos
To better make sense of how trademarking works, I will be focusing on a specific example: Starbucks. Starbucks famously trademarked the frappuccino, an iced, blended coffee drink that comes in multiple flavors and is made with a variety of ingredients. According to Starbucks itself, the frappuccino was born over 20 years ago in the summer of 1995, and it was trademarked that year. However, Starbucks was not the first to trademark the word, as it was originally done so by George Howell of the Coffee Connection in 1992. According to Howell, the name was inspired by mixing two words frequently used in the coffee industry: frozen and cappuccino. Starbucks ultimately liked the word, bought it from Howell, and started marketing frappuccinos under their own, original recipe– something they still do to this day.
As you can see above, the word “frappuccino” is followed by the registered trade mark symbol, which means that only the Starbucks company is allowed to market any product as a frappuccino as long as they are active in the market. This is why you see so many knock offs of the beverages, but they are never referred to by the full name “frappuccino”. Rather, they are normally called “frappes”. This is because Starbucks does not have “frappe” trademarked. According to Medium, the word already existed and is too similar to a commonly marketed word, so companies are unable to claim it as there own. With this said, anybody can use it as long as they are producing a product that is similar but not entirely the same as Starbucks’s frappuccino. Many companies have already done this, including McDonald’s, Burger King, and Cold Stone Creamery because the item is profitable; however, each have their own, unique recipes.
Ultimately, while trademarks may seem insignificant in the gist of things, they are more than a tiny symbol. In fact, they are incredibly important to intellectual property law as they help to protect both the consumer and the company.
Ember,
I really liked your post! I knew a little about trademarks but I did not know that the company has to be active in the market to have the the ownership of a word. Very informative post, keep up the great work!
On their bottle also have Starbucks(R) coffee. Does it mean Starbucks registered their ingredient also or just Starbucks registered name.
The original Frappuccino wasn’t made with ice, it was made of frozen yogurt and iced coffee, and discovered in a frozen yogurt shop in a small town (at tbhat time) Yucaipa, in southern California. It was created by a mother and her two children. Being homeschooled, part of the children’s schooling, was lessons learned from running a small business. Being taught in a small, family business atmosphere, they learned a variety of life skills, as well as having the freedom to create. They mastered the art of mixing and creating different flavors of yogurt, as well as mixing and creating different flavors of coffee. When the hot weather hot weather hit, iced coffee was a refreshing alternative to a steaming cup of java, and became a delightful treat to both grownups and kids, when blended with any of their yummy coffee flavor creations! This idea soon found it’s way to the new, local, coffee bistro, Starbucks.
The original Frappuccino wasn’t made with ice, it was made of frozen yogurt and iced coffee, and discovered in a frozen yogurt shop in a small town (at that time) Yucaipa, in southern California. It was created by a mother and her two children. Being homeschooled, part of the children’s schooling, was lessons learned from running a small business. Being taught in a small, family business atmosphere, they learned a variety of life skills, as well as having the freedom to create. They mastered the art of mixing and creating different flavors of yogurt, as well as mixing and creating different flavors of coffee. When the hot weather hot weather hit, iced coffee was a refreshing alternative to a steaming cup of java, and became a delightful treat to both grownups and kids, when blended with any of their yummy coffee flavor creations! This idea soon found it’s way to the new, local, coffee bistro, Starbucks.