Since the 1850s, two venerable brands associated with the famous British trench coat, Aquascutum and Burberry, have managed to keep pace. But now "A" has given way to "B": Aquascutum, whose clothing was once worn by the likes of Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher, has filed for bankruptcy, even as Burberry's star continues to rise.

At one time, Aquascutum — the name was derived from the Latin words for "water shield" — was a storied brand. While the company's claim that it invented the trench coat is disputed by Burberry, Aquascutum coats clothed British soldiers in the trenches of the Crimean war and World War I. Explorer Edmund Hillary and sherpa Tenzing Norgay sported Aquascutum fabrics during their trek up Mt. Everest in 1953. The 1994 and 1996 British Olympic teams wore uniforms made by the company. King Edward VII, as well as actors Humphrey Bogart, Greta Garbo, Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, and Peter Sellers, all wore its clothing, according to Aquascutum.

But that was in bygone days. Of late, the brand simply could not be competitive. According to a company statement, "The senior management team have worked tirelessly to develop and build the Aquascutum brand. The challenging conditions in the U.K., however, have unfortunately meant that the team have been unable to successfully turn the business around which has ultimately resulted in its administration." (Administration is the British form of bankruptcy.)Continue reading...

You want to send somebody some lovely-looking fresh-cut fruit arrangements? No problem! There are a few companies that can help you out. Two of them aren’t just competing in the marketplace. They’ve also got a battle going in the courtroom.

Toward the beginning of last year, 1-800-Flowers.com got into "creating and delivering fresh-cut fruit arrangements,” a business that Edible Arrangements was already well-established in with its “flower-shaped-melon-on-a-stick bouquets,” according to Reuters.

1-800-Flowers had some logos made up for their new brand extension and went ahead and registered them as trademarks. But two days later, Edible Arrangements filed a complaint that said the logos were too similar to their marks.

Now 1-800-Flowers is hoping a judge can make a judgment on the logos, according to the site, and pointed out in its own complaint that the term “bouquet of fruits” has been used by others in the past 20 years without confusion.

Christopher Buccafusco, an assistant professor at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, told Reuters that copyright of such things often depends on its originality, so “if Rodin carved a sculpture out of watermelon, it would be just as protected as one made out of marble.”Continue reading...

Guess is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month with the return of Claudia Schiffer in a new campaign (at right). But there's one front on which the brand's iconic model can't help out.

The American denim giant, started by the French-born Marciano brothers (Paul and Maurice, now co-chairmen and -CEOs) in 1982, is tangling in court with a sexy Italian: Gucci.

The brands are squaring off in a battle that’s been raging between them for years. The way Gucci lawyer Louis Ederer sees it, Guess is working a “massive, complicated scheme to knock off Gucci’s best-known and iconic designs," according to Bloomberg. Guess, as you might guess, begs to differ.

The claim is that Guess has infringed on four Gucci trademarks, the Huffington Post notes: “the green and red stripe; the interlocking "G" pattern; the square ‘G’ and the brand name's delicate script font.” And this infringement didn’t just occur on one or two products, the suit claims. It was on, Gucci claims, $221 million worth of products.Continue reading...

From "Everyday low prices" to "Anytime, anywhere."

That appears to be what's in store for the evolution of Walmart's brand-defining slogan. Soon, the latter motto will be the marketing tagline for Walmart.com, unit President Joel Anderson told Bloomberg. And so maybe, given the rising importance of e-commerce to the giant of bricks and mortar, it could stand for the whole brand someday.

The mega-retailer is plumb in the middle of a huge transition in e-tailing, just as it has spent the last few years tacking back and forth between its traditional everyday-low-prices positioning and the attraction of providing less clutter and more "sophistication" for upscale consumers. In the case of Walmart.com, the spur — of course — is Amazon.com.Continue reading...

The Olympic creed states that “the most important thing … is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.”

Well, that’s just fine for the athletes, but for Nike and Adidas, they are looking not just to fight well, but to conquer.

Business Review Europe reports that “relations between the sportswear giants (are) even more frosty than usual over their access to leading Olympic stars including Paula Radcliffe, Mo Farah and Mark Cavendish.”

The problem stems from the fact that Adidas is an official London 2012 sponsor, and doesn’t want to be giving Nike any kind of free publicity.

In the past, there has been a gentleman’s agreement made between the two sides to allow athletes to get their medals with their own sponsors’ shoes on their feet, but the growing acrimony has kept that from happening this time around.Continue reading...

Building up a brand has always been crucial to a business but the value has gone up even higher in the Internet age. The New York Times reports “brand experts and trademark lawyers say the value of simple, easily understood brand names has escalated in the Internet era because consumers are more likely to find such products while doing searches on the Web.”

Because of that, trademark fights have escalated, the Times notes, pointing to the trademark spat over the phrase "app store" by Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon.

But it is the smaller companies that have more stake in grabbing hold of those trademarks, the NYT points out, since the larger ones can attempt to crush the smaller — a legal tactic that some call "trademark bullying."Continue reading...

Microsoft takes a swipe at Google (personified as a fast-talking salesman; check out the sly tie with Google's colors) with the viral video above that's being promoted on Twitter with a #Googlighting hashtag.

The spot's description: "What happens when the world's largest advertising business tries to sell productivity software on the side? Beware the Googlighting Stranger. Learn more at WhyMicrosoftProductivity.com"

As it implements a global re-set of its Pepsi brand and corporate priorities, PepsiCo is girding for even more pitched battle with a re-energized Coca-Cola. And if only because PepsiCo plans to boost spending on its major brands by at least a half-billion dollars this year, the competition between the two giants should be the sharpest in some time.

PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and the company's board announced strategic investments during their business review last week that are aimed at the major pressure points being applied lately by restive PepsiCo investors and others. In the meantime, Coca-Cola also announced massive overall cost cuts as well as a decision to use the savings of up to $650 million in extra marketing and brand buildling.

The boost in marketing outlays announced by PepsiCo will be devoted to the largest beverage brands, especially struggling Pepsi, as well as snack brands. But many of the agencies that have been serving the brands to date are being swept out in a massive 65% reduction in the number of partners used by the beverages business. And Pepsi will be culling many of the non-performers from its 400-plus global brands.Continue reading...