Sound brands: Sound as part of the brand strategy

In the course of the Trademark Modernization Act in Germany (January 2019), new trademark forms were included. Since then, sound marks, motion marks, hologram marks and multimedia marks can also be registered in digital form, e.g. as an electronic sound or video sequence.

Acoustic audible marks

Trademarks consisting exclusively of a sound, a sequence of sounds or noises can be protected as sound trademarks. The trademark can now be reproduced by submitting a sound file (JPEG or MP3) reproducing the sound or by reproducing the sound exactly in musical notation.

In principle, the same requirements apply to their registration as to all other forms of trademarks: A sound mark can only be registered if the sound itself has distinctive character, i.e. whether the average consumer addressed will perceive it as a sound which can be remembered and which constitutes an indication that the goods or services are to be associated exclusively with a particular undertaking.

It should be noted, however, that the trademark offices (still) assume that a sound per se is not generally used as a means of identification in current trade practice because a sign consisting of a sound per se is not necessarily perceived in the same way as a word or figurative mark.

Therefore, it is assumed that only a sound that deviates significantly from the norm or customary in the industry can also have distinctive character. Thus, considerable persuasion is required here and, if necessary, proof that the sound is actually recognised in the industry as an indication of origin.

The recognition value of sound brands

Sounds, melodies or noises arouse emotions; people associate products or the companies behind them with them. Acoustic brands, like visual brands, have a strong influence on the feeling of well-being and the willingness to buy – not only for this reason, many products today are also optimized with regard to the sounds during use.

With the trend towards acoustic digital media, the potential to bring brand awareness to a company’s products and services via the acoustic factor is also increasing.

There are some brands that are immediately recognizable by their sound. Well-known in Germany are, for example, the sound sequence consisting of 5 tones (so-called jingle) of the Telekom or the melody of the brewery Erdinger Weißbräu. The theme music of the James Bond films is also a well-known, memorable identification melody that is protected as a sound trademark.

It all starts with a market analysis

Before filing an application for a sound trademark, a search for “industry custom” should urgently be conducted in order to gather convincing trademark arguments for the distinctiveness of sounds for the goods and services and thus increase the likelihood of registration.

The patent attorneys of karo IP assist in the drafting, filing and prosecution of trademark applications, carry out the corresponding grant procedures and work out a company-specific IP strategy together with the clients.