Can Specsavers really trademark a verb?
Intellectual Patent Office approves optician chain's application to have sole use of word "should've" in adverts
"Specsavers' rivals should've seen this… coming," jokes a headline in the Daily Telegraph.
For marketers, however, the story on is no laughing matter as they're set to be banned from using the common contracted verb "should've" in any adverts.
Yesterday, the UK Intellectual Patent Office approved Specsavers's application for the sole right to use the word, which it uses in its own advertising campaigns within the tag line "should've gone to Specsavers".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Rival companies, including optician services, medical hearing aids and eyewear, have until 18 October to appeal the decision if they don't want the firm to monopolise the word in any and all promotional material.
Specsavers' application also covers the word without the apostrophe - "shouldve" - which it uses as a hashtag in social media campaigns.
Granting trademark rights for advertising slogans is not unusual where the phrase is inextricably linked to a company through "use or association", says the BBC.
McDonald's, for example, has sole right to: "I'm loving it", while Nestle owns: "Have a break" for its KitKat ads.
Even trademarking a single word is not unprecedented - Carlsberg did so with "probably", which it has long used in its popular advertising campaigns.
Even so, trademark lawyer Tania Clark, from Withers & Rogers, says yesterday's decision was "astonishing".
She added: "They have a very powerful monopoly in this word... which is a verb in common usage."
Clark was particularly alarmed that Specsavers appears to have protection extending beyond its own narrow sector, with paper products and retail services also seemingly covered.
The decision, if confirmed, would prompt other firms to seek similar protection for simple words and phrases, she warned.
Brian Conroy, a Dublin-based solicitor who specialises in trademarks, told The Times: "In my experience, this is what drives non-legal people mad."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Geoff Capes obituary: shot-putter who became the World’s Strongest Man
In the Spotlight The 'mighty figure' was a two-time Commonwealth Champion and world-record holder
By The Week UK Published
-
Israel attacks Iran: a 'limited' retaliation
Talking Point Iran's humiliated leaders must decide how to respond to Netanyahu's measured strike
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: November 2, 2024
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Labour shortages: the ‘most urgent problem’ facing the UK economy right now
Speed Read Britain is currently in the grip of an ‘employment crisis’
By The Week Staff Published
-
Will the energy war hurt Europe more than Russia?
Speed Read European Commission proposes a total ban on Russian oil
By The Week Staff Published
-
Will Elon Musk manage to take over Twitter?
Speed Read The world’s richest man has launched a hostile takeover bid worth $43bn
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Shoppers urged not to buy into dodgy Black Friday deals
Speed Read Consumer watchdog says better prices can be had on most of the so-called bargain offers
By The Week Staff Published
-
Ryanair: readying for departure from London
Speed Read Plans to delist Ryanair from the London Stock Exchange could spell ‘another blow’ to the ‘dwindling’ London market
By The Week Staff Published
-
Out of fashion: Asos ‘curse’ has struck again
Speed Read Share price tumbles following the departure of CEO Nick Beighton
By The Week Staff Published
-
Universal Music’s blockbuster listing: don’t stop me now…
Speed Read Investors are betting heavily that the ‘boom in music streaming’, which has transformed Universal’s fortunes, ‘still has a long way to go’
By The Week Staff Published
-
EasyJet/Wizz: battle for air supremacy
Speed Read ‘Wizz’s cheeky takeover bid will have come as a blow to the corporate ego’
By The Week Staff Published