I’m in India this week and the transit through Singapore reminded me of something I noticed in Hong Kong in June:
What’s interesting from an IP perspective is the number of top brands that don’t use R or TM alongside their brands. (Swatch is here, but you may not be able to pick it out.)
Same thing in Singapore.
There seems to be a negative correlation between the size and popularity of the brand and whether they bother to use the symbols – at least in the (Asian) airport setting.
From an aesthetic point of view, even IP lawyers know that a brand doesn’t look good alongside its R or TM livery. However, is there a risk here?
Or is it ok once a brand is big enough not to worry with marking it as a brand – because everyone already knows.
and if that’s right – then how big is big enough?
What do you think?