Our brains respond differently to names over other words that are generally used but lack any well-established association. Endorphins excite our brains when we hear the sound of a name with which we have established a positive recognition. Such a positive recognition may be the result of our own favorable experience associated with perhaps a stay at a hotel having a distinctive brand name, a restaurant having a brand name characteristic of the eating place where you had an enjoyable dining experience or a positive and memorable use of a product having a distinguishing brand name.

Of course, a brand name associated with any of these services or products becomes a moniker through which others may recommend these services or products to establish a similar response in a person’s mind when seeing or recollecting a past referral. For example, the following brand names typically provide a positive experience in the minds of most persons relative to the generic product name:

CINNEBON® versus Cinnamon Roll

STARBUCKS® versus Coffee

TOBLERON® versus Candy Bar

NATHAN’S® versus Hot Dog

BUDWEISER® versus Beer

While no one brand may appeal to everybody, the goal of the branding effort is to appeal to those who are likely to buy your product or engage in your services. Legal use and protection of the mark associated with a brand is a component of the brand-building and preservation process. Protection of the brand to prevent another party’s inappropriate use of the mark is the subject of trademark law. Marks may be registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and become a registered trademark that is available for your sole use in connection with the service and/or product for which you have registered the mark.

Indeed, marks that have been registered offer monopolistic protections for that brand when it is used in association with the goods or services with which it has been registered. Also, the use of a mark in association with the brand cannot infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others, which could prove costly to the brand.

There are common law rights in a mark that has not been registered. Marks subject to common law have a much more limited scope of protection including a limitation to the geographic area where the mark has been used in association with products and/or services. If somebody else has registered that same mark in association with a service or product that closely resembles your service or product that predates your use, they can legally force you to stop using that mark.

Businesses that strive to excel in some way through the services or products they offer can miss a valuable opportunity to associate and continuously use a name connected with such services or products. Brands that are well-established allow a business’s goods or services to be recognized in a crowded market space where consumers have a lot of choices to select from.

Brands can continue to survive even when products or services that they are used in association with terminate and are replaced by upgraded or revised products or services. Brands may continue to be used to convey quality, credibility and experience in replacement products and/or services. Brands add value to a company and can be found on the balance sheet of many companies.