Are Your Trademarks “Suggestive?”

Are your trademarks suggestive? If so, hurray for you, because “suggestive” marks make some of the very best trademarks. Why? Because they suggest — but don’t come right out and describe — certain qualities about the product associated with the mark. These qualities might be attractive to the consumer, or relate certain information to the consumer about the purpose, stature, or usefulness of the goods or service.

What are some examples of “suggestive” trademarks? One of my favorites is the trademark Jaguar for cars. The name is very evocative of some very good qualities of a sports car; a jaguar is a sleek, sexy cat, and doesn’t everyone want a sleek, sexy sports car? A jaguar is also fast and strong, more good qualities to associate with an automobile. A jaguar is a cat, so maybe the motor of the car purrs like a jaguar. A cat might also be a little playful and regal. All of those qualities embody positive connotations for a refined, sexy sports car, which I’m sure is the sort of association that the brand creators at Jaguar had in mind when they conjured up that name for the car company.

Another great suggestive brand is “Brillo” for cleaning products. A Brillo abrasive pad is used to scrub off baked-on gunk in the kitchen, as well as clean rust off of metal items. The word “brillare” in Italian means “to shine,” so whenever I think of Brillo I think of the word “brilliant” and “shining” which is how I want things to look after I have scrubbed them clean. Brillo to me suggests shiny clean surfaces. The word “Brillo” also sounds a little bit abrasive, with that “br” fricative at the beginning so I also feel like Brillo could be something appropriate for scrubbing things that need to have gunk scraped off of them.

“Microsoft” is another suggestive brand, and an amalgam of the words “microcomputer” and “software.” When Microsoft first started, the company made software for microcomputers, so the term suggests — but doesn’t outright describe — the purpose of the goods to which the mark is affixed, i.e. software for microcomputers. Now, of course, Microsoft makes other products as well, but you can see how the brand conjures an image of the use for the original products the company was offering.

Some suggestive marks are also fanciful as well; read more about “fanciful” marks here.

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