Is the lodging industry headed toward serving up a regular bowl of alphabet soup? Hotel chains these days appear determined to own single-letter trademarks. Do you recognize any of these single-letter hotel marks?

     

This article was originally published by Steve Baird in DuetsBlog

 

In case you're wondering, the inspiration for this post came from Holiday Inn's re-branding effort with the above H logo – a program that apparently started back in 2007, but has only recently shown itself in suburban Minneapolis. It got me thinking how Holiday Inn must have had single-letter trademark envy to move in this truncated direction because when I think of single-letter hotel brands, only W comes to mind (at least before starting this post).

W Hotels has done a very nice job with its branding, especially with the recent remodelling of historic Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis. It's interesting, however, that W seems unmoved by a host of others using and registering "its letter" in connection with other hotels: here (Wyndham), here (Woodfin), here (Chickasaw Nation), here (The Westbury in London), here (Watermark), and here (Willard). This is especially since Starwood, the owner of W Hotels, owns the letter W as a trademark without any type or style limitations. Perhaps W is unmoved because at least some of these appear to predate W, begging the question of how Starwood was able to register the letter W with no type or style limitations in the first place.

Back to Holiday Inn…it is certainly not the first or only brand with a hotel or plans for a hotel to think about truncating its name to the single letter H in a trademark and logo. See these other "brands" here (Hilton), here (Hersha), here (Hansa Urbana), here (Hearthstone), here (Haute), here (Heritage), and here (Heidi Klum).

It turns out that lots of other hotels have truncated their names into single-letter logos too, which makes me wonder about what the scope of their respective rights might be.

When it comes to hotel branding and trademarks, not all letters are created equal
In fact, some letters may not be well-suited for hotel branding at all. Take the letters B through D and F: they're still available (no hotel as far as I know are using them); but given that hotels are routinely graded (typically on number of stars), one must take note of their grading connotations (e.g., the failing letter F) when used in branding. G appears taken, at least in Malaysia. As far as E, Westin recently grabbed a stylized E, with Carlisle and Embassy Suites also taking an interest in the letter.

As you may have guessed, Renaissance is not the only R out there in the hotel world: see here (Ramada), here (Ravel), here (Regent), here (Registry), and here (Rockresorts). However, U Hotels & Resorts appears to be surprisingly unique, as does O Hotel. So, here we may have identified at least one caution for Oprah to consider carefully, down the road, in the event she sets her sights on extending her brand of O into the hotel industry.

Last, but certainly not least, as Gatorade must have learned when it truncated to G, blogged previously here, it is not easy to own a single-letter as a trademark, at least one that enjoys any meaningful scope.

 

About Stephen R. Baird
Steve Baird joined Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A., as a shareholder in 2003 with over a decade of significant experience in the intellectual property arena. He heads the Intellectual Property and Trademark and Brand Management practice groups, with a focus on trademark law, related unfair competition law and copyright law. Mr. Baird counsels clients on trademark usage and clearance, branding strategies, domestic and worldwide portfolio management, litigation and enforcement, Internet domain name disputes, licensing and prosecution. He also handles trademark litigation matters in federal district court and in proceedings before the United States Patent & Trademark Office. In addition, he manages both large and small U.S. and international trademark portfolios for a wide variety of companies. Prior to his experience in law firms, Mr. Baird was the judicial law clerk to Judge Wilson Cowen, Senior Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

 

About Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A.
Winthrop & Weinstine is a law firm that offers a full range of practice areas for each client's legal needs. Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A.'s highly experienced Intellectual Property attorneys maintain a watchful eye on intellectual property trends, specifically dealing with trademarks, copyrights, and patent issues, including the use and misuse of the Internet. Winthrop & Weinstine assists in protecting important intangible business assets to advance commercial competitiveness and other business interests. Winthrop & Weinstine performs intellectual property audits to assist clients in prioritizing their resources and maximizing the value of their intellectual property assets.