Procter & Gamble wants to register the trademarks LOL, WTF and FML
Always, Ariel, Duracell, Gillette, Head&Shoulders, Pampers, Pringles and more. The American group Procter & Gamble holds a impressive number of brands. Its products are marketed worldwide (in more than 180 countries) and are worth several billion dollars. The company also invests a significant portion of its budget in research and development of new products. And recently, the group announced its intention to acquire several acronyms, used mainly by millenials. A desire to rejuvenate its customers?
WTF brands to reclaim a young audience?
P&G has filed four trademark applications with the USPTO, the U.S. Trademark Office. Each trademark refers to an expression well known by Internet users: the famous LOL, which is no longer presented, but also WTF (What The Fuck), NBD (No Big Deal) and FML (Fuck My Life). The brands target cleaning products, the core business of Procter & Gamble: soap, detergents, cleaners and deodorizers.
Procter & Gamble would therefore consider launching a range of "cooler" household products, in particular in order to boost its sales. Over the last decade, the group has had to sell off around 100 brands, which were no longer profitable enough.
The marks were not registered because the USPTO asked Procter & Gamble for clarification of the wording. As the group's brands have a global character, it is likely that these new brands will join the European market after a few years of testing in the United States.
Acronym brands: nothing new under the sun
Procter & Gamble is not the first to choose brands in the form of acronyms. HSBC, FIAT, KFC, HARIBO, IKEA... All these marks are acronyms that refer either to their origin or their situation.
Indeed, acronym marks have a strong advantage: they are perfectly distinctive and therefore enjoy better protection than if they had been registered in their complete form. In addition, they are more easily retained and have an international character.
Thus, by registering these LOL and WTF trademarks, Procter & Gamble is not - contrary to what one might think - opting for modernity. The brand only opts for trendy names. But is this really the case? There are already many LOL brands (in France, the oldest dates back to 2005). For cosmetics alone (which P&G is interested in), there are more than 10, and the same goes for WTF brands - although the first French brand refers to an acronym very far away (World Taekwondo Federation) from the one envisaged by P&G.
In conclusion, while Procter & Gamble has managed to get its brands talked about in the last few days, there is not much that is new. Once again, this is more a marketing stunt than a real trademark law news story. The question is mainly whether the USPTO will proceed with the registration of these trademarks.