Defend Against Store Name Dilution

According to a Bloomberg Businessweek article, business education retailer WBF is being sued by trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. The reason is that WBF is the nickname of Wharton Business Foundation and University of Pennsylvania includes Wharton School, the oldest business school in America. The lawsuit understandably claims that consumers are likely to think the services they’d get from WBF have lots to do with Wharton School.
     BBW says that WBF hasn’t even applied for a U.S. trademark registration for the name “Wharton University” or “Wharton Business Foundation University,” while Wharton School has been using the Wharton registered mark for business education since 1881.
     The Penn lawsuit is a reminder of the importance of trade protecting the name of your store and then monitoring for violations of your rights. U.S. federal law protects against trademark dilution. The Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006, which amended prior legislation going back to 1946, allows for legal action when there is a likelihood of dilution, not just proven dilution.
     Researchers at Rutgers University, California State University-Long Beach, and Ohio State University demonstrated the reality of dilution. They measured the proportion of study participants who think exclusively of one brand’s products when asked about a given brand name. They found that a single exposure to a logo similar to the logo for the given brand name, but for a different business, diluted exclusivity by about 35%.
     Defend against store name dilution by maintaining strong associations between your store name and store image. Market in all the channels the shopper uses when engaging in searches that could end up with purchases from you. Remember to include these:

• Personal contacts. When people visit your store, be sure they’re exposed to the name in signage, shopping bags, what salespersons are saying, and more. 
• Non-internet advertising. Use a full range of channels and have the store name in distinctive fonts and in a memorable logo design. 
• Interpersonal contacts. Beyond social media are the face-to-face interactions your satisfied customers have with other consumers. Give to those customers business cards with the store name in prominence. 
• Colleagues. If you operate under a franchise or in a retailer cooperative, the name you use is probably used by others. How well are you teaming up with those others to maintain the quality of the brand? 

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Guard Against Trade Name Dilution 
Project Your Brand Positively