On October 29, 2021, Andrew Price and Meaghan Kent were quoted in The Fashion Law on what companies should consider when rebranding.
According to the article, companies commonly tweak their monikers for an array of reasons – from an attempt to reposition a beleaguered brand to a bid to reflect an expansion beyond a company’s initial offerings. Price and Kent noted that a rebranding exercise that is aimed at maximizing brand value, including in challenging times across industries, “may have to look beyond just changing [a company’s] own name or logo.” In such instances, “the rebrand will not only have to portray how the particular company has changed or grown but may also have to articulate how its profession or field, as a whole, has grown or matured.
Companies that are engaging in – or toying with the idea of – a rebrand should consider what happens to pre-rebrand assets. Price and Kent asserted that in the wake of a rebrand, “it may be worth keeping old logos and other legacy marks visible on websites and other branding materials to help customers recognize the [new] brand and understand the purpose behind the rebrand.”
Beyond aiding consumers amid a branding transition, Price and Kent said that “keeping these legacy marks alive also serves to protect them from misuse and helps to bridge the gap between the old brand and the new.” From a purely trademark perspective, if any of the formerly used names, logos, etc. are still in use, it “can also be advisable to keep certain strategic registrations alive for legacy brands for a period in order to preserve ‘residual goodwill,’” they added.
Click here to access the article.