Archives: Trademarks

One of the benefits of owning a trademark is enjoying the ability to license the mark – meaning, you can agree to let someone else use the trademark in exchange for a fee or some other type of compensation. In theory, trademark licensing should be straightforward. However, the “franchise trap” or the “accidental franchise” makes it more complicated than it may initially seem. Franchises are highly regulated at both the state and federal level. For example, franchisors are required to make substantial disclosures of financial information, which must be audited. In California, as in many other states, the franchise must…

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Recently Josh Barro wrote an article in New York Magazine asking “Why Do Hotel Companies Have So Many Brands?” The article begins: In 2016, Marriott Hotels, which had 19 hotel brands, merged with Starwood, which had 11. They didn’t abolish any brands in the merger, and so the company faced a challenge: How to explain to customers, or even to its own employees, what makes all 30 of these brands different from each other. That’s right – Marriott alone has 30 different hotel brand names (or “flags” as they apparently call them in the hotel industry). These include Marriott, Sheraton,…

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