Question

Topic: Branding

Trademark Valuation

Posted by Anonymous on 3/12/2008 at 7:06 PM ET 250 Points
Hello Marketingprof Experts!,

I have a registered Trademark of “25/8” which I own. This Trademark stands for “Twenty-Five Hours A Day/Eight Days A Week”, in the same way that 24/7 stands for “Twenty-Four Hours A Day/Seven Days A Week”.

I am in the process of contacting a number of Fortune 500 companies with the intent to license this Trademark to them for their extensive marketing and advertising purposes.

I would like to know, what is a fair valuation for this particular Trademark? I have researched online and there seems to be precedent for valuations of very established brands, slogans, and trademarks, often valued for tax (IRS), sale, legal/court, or accounting purposes.

Where can I find accurate, established (meaning transactions which have already occurred as opposed to hypothetical), and relevant valuations? I understand that the scope, breadth, and usage of this particular Trademark by a specific Fortune 500 company will also substantially effect the value. It would be most helpful to have a way to determine the value of this Trademark based upon a fixed number (E.G. the gross sales of the target company), perhaps expressed as a percentage of this number. The research I have already done does often tie a Trademark or advertising slogan valuation to gross sales; however, this is usually for a well established mark, which has an extensive track record of use and recognizability. The line I tread seems to be (dilemma) there are valuations for the established Trademarks that are already in place, and yet a Fortune 500 company that licenses this mark will most likely use it broadly across all avenues of their advertising, and even product identities. How can I find comparables for what this Trademark is worth, given usage, licensing time frame, exclusivity, etc.?

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by saul.dobney on 3/13/2008 at 5:17 AM Member
    Trademark value is built up from custom and use - it represents reputation and goodwill that actually delivers higher profits either by enabling the business to command higher prices or to command a bigger market share. It's the reputation that comes along with the mark that people will spend money on - the top trademarks are generally meaningless in themselves (Coca Cola, Google, Dove).

    What you have is a label or slogan - they are very easy to generate, but often very difficult to build to be something to live up to. It's doubtful anyone would buy 25/8 as they simply could pick an alternative.

    However, if someone does use 25/8 you may be able to sue them for trademark infringement, but I believe, only if you yourself are using the trademark. Most likely any legal action would only result in stopping the infringement, rather than any level of damages. An exception would be if they have damaged the reputation of your use of the mark in some way and so harmed your business (so again you would have to be using the mark and the mark have some value to you).

    You also have to be careful with trademarks as they relate to specific sectors and activities. They are not universal (eg Sun computers and Sun insurance can exist each being trademarks in different sectors).

    You might find someone willing to buy it because they like the idea. After all ad agencies get paid for catchy slogans, but not directly because of the TM.

    Saul
  • Posted on 3/13/2008 at 12:53 PM Author
    To all who have answered, thank you, and I hope this is the correct way reply back to you as this is my first question.

    To W.M.M.A.,
    Thank you for your wake up call questions. I have received positive responses from various sources, but nothing official. I have also been working on the branding, but only (also) in a minimal way. You have pointed a direction-thank you.

    To Steve Hoffacker,
    Thank you for your input, I'll factor it in.

    To Saul,
    I am fairly familiar with the points you mention, and I will proceed,
    and also very much appreciate you input.

    To NuCoPro,
    Thank you as well for your input.
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