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August 12, 2009

Is Delta Losing Altitude by Protecting the Northwest Brand Name?

The blogoshere is full of resentment this morning for Delta Airlines after sicking their trademark lawyers on a small Internet travel company called GoNorthwest.com.

It seems that Delta wants to own the Northwest name, which is going to be rather difficult since more than 10,500 businesses in the U.S. use it. Moreover, because Delta is moving away from the name, the whole exercise seems a little pointless. Garland Pollard of BrandlandUSA says "They are not only wasting an intellectual property asset, they are wasting time and money protecting the wasting of the asset."

Despite there being 366 trademarks for "NW" and "Northwest" in the U.S., Delta is not budging. The bottom line is that the brand name is going to be discarded, but even if it wasn't, there is very little likelihood of confusion.

By pursuing this course of action, Delta is angering their very own target market. Just as they roll out new planes in Delta colors and try to establish a fresh brand identity, this is creating all kinds of bad press for them.

The problem in this case seems to have more to do with the banner ads on the site that compete with Delta's ticketing agencies. But still, Northwest happily endured GoNorthwest for ten years.

Alas, the realities of the airline world dictate that one big brand dominate customers' airspace. It is a shame to see Northwest go, but as I have said before, them's the breaks.

Technorati Tags: Delta, Delta Brands, Northwest Brand Name

Posted by William Lozito at August 12, 2009 11:44 AM
Posted to Brand Naming | Branding | Company Naming | Industry | Marketing | Naming | Naming Rights | Trademarking | Travel and Tourism

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