Companies Want a Green Trademark
April 26, 2008 by Allison Boyer
Filed under Small Business
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people apply with the US Patent and Trademark Office. A new report is showing that of last yea’s over 300,000 applications, 2,400 of them included the word “green.” That’s up from 1,100 of the applications the year before and makes “green” the most popular word in all applications.
It begs the question - with so many companies “going green” in their name, not just their policies, is this the best option for you?
Before you apply for a trademark, consider all of your options. How can you and your business stand out above the crowd.
Great advice coming from someone who writers GREENerassets.com I guess!
Consumers today make choices based on the values of a brand. Standard measures of whether a product or service is good or not certainly remain relevant, however, customers want to know how a company relates to certain lifestyles, aesthetics and especially the environment.
Today a green economy is worth $209 billion (according to the LOHAS Journal). It is actually moving toward impossible for a company to be successful on Wall Street and NOT be environmentally minded. It is no longer a question of will a company make a play for green-minded consumers. It is simply, in what way it makes sense for my business. And to make it count you need to move beyond the standard of being ‘green’ in name only.
You can often opt to turn to certain on-line sites and periodicals for more information. CSRwire.com, a newswire service, gives companies an outlet to provide updates and commentary on their sustainable efforts. When you take a look at CSRwire you really get a handle on how many companies are sincere in efforts to find the right balance when ‘greening’ their business. Wall Street is going to have to start meeting standards that display some social responsibility to the planet. The next level is trying to devise criteria that really inform consumers as to whether a corporation is eco-thoughtful let alone socially responsible. Overall, it just seems that consumer demand will lead to a business standard that will soon perpetuate sustainable business practices.