Having a strong brand name is not enough in today's world. It is important to own it, on legal grounds.
Copyrighting a popular brand name is a common practice among major companies, but it hasn't always been easy for major companies to hang on to their names.
Recently US President Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, has been embroiled in one such battle with a slew of Chinese companies regarding the use of the name 'Ivanka'. Trump's daughter's fashion line is called Ivanka. Ivanka hasn't been the only one to fight for her name, her father had been battling a Chinese company that trademarked the name Trump, in China. Luckily, the verdict fell in Trump's favour, after almost a decade-long fight.
Let's take a look at some of the high-profile trademark battles that have made headlines in the past.
Ivanka
"Ivanka" is a popular name in China, as there are several corporate companies registered under that name. Everything from undergarments to seafood, handbags, jewellery and more, use Ivanka as a brand name.
According to the South China Morning Post, at least 65 applications have been submitted by Chinese companies to use Ivanka as a trademark for their products.
The verdict is still due on this one.
Trump
After battling for almost a decade, US President Donald Trump finally won the rights to his name as a brand in China.
A Chinese construction company had a 10-year trademark on "Trump" and you can understand how it could have affected the US President's business. But a recent meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping seemed to have worked wonders, and voila, Trump now owns his name in the Asian powerhouse.
iPhone
Apple has plenty of legal battles going on with other tech giants, but the tech giant lost one particularly interesting fight against a Chinese firm, Xinton Tiandi Technology.
The iPhone maker was fighting for exclusive rights over the name "iPhone" in China, but it was unfortunate for the tech giant that the electronic goods-maker had already trademarked "IPHONE" for its leather goods in China in 2010.
Yahoo!
Yahoo may have undergone some serious changes, but it certainly did not want its trademarked name to be used by others. An Indian firm Apricot Foods Pvt Ltd (AFPL), its Director Sanjay Patel and Shri Jee Traders, were sued by the search engine giant for using its name to sell food items "Yahoo Masala Chakra" and "Yahoo Tomato Tangy". The trademark battle was pretty straightforward and the defendants backed off in peace.
Courtesy of Yahoo, they were also exempted from damages even though Delhi high court passed a decree in favour of Yahoo, where the defendants were asked to pay Rs32 lakh damages and Rs6.44 lakh as court costs.
Iceland
The trademark battle between Iceland the country and Iceland, the UK-based supermarket chain, was a controversial one.
The supermarket chain was granted an EU-wide trademark to use the word "Iceland" in 2014, which did not sit well with the Icelandic government. After all Iceland is not a member of the EU.
The government is not seeking that the supermarket chain drop the name completely, but simply to end its trademarked right, so local Icelandic companies can use the country's name to promote their products.
