Wine Law

6 that name ” 9 . Kapferer further considers that, in order to clearly define brand identity, one must answer a list of questions, including “ what makes the brand different ? ” 10 . Differentiation is, therefore, one of the key components of branding. As brands have become one of the most valuable assets of a business, the search for new ways to build brands that achieve a differentiated status in the customers’ minds has become of central importance for companies 11 . So, how can a brand differentiate its position in a competitive market ? Among other things, design , given that a design-focused approach can uncover opportunities for segmentation and market differentiation 12 . Design has become an essential element for branding, serving as the cohesive factor for all elements that configure a brand experience and represent an unequivocal source of differentiation 13 – a memorable and aesthetically pleasing design attracts the consumers’ attention and becomes an essential element in brand experience and marketing success 14 . Companies select such designs and other features (i.e. colours, materials, textures or logos) because of their “attractiveness”, as to drive consumer behaviour. The businesses will then want to protect their investment in such attractive designs by registering them as “unconventional” trademarks, thus gaining exclusive rights over design for an unlimited period (which, as we will examine below, in Section IV, can become problematic). The interdependence between unconventional trademarks and branding is perfectly illustrated by Deven Desai: “ advertising encompasses branding. Branding is about an overall image built in a variety of ways. If one includes the protection of the advertising function in trademark law, protecting a specific instance of advertising and branding as 9 J. N. Kapferer, The New Strategic Brand Management: Creating and sustaining brand equity long term , Kogan Page, 4 th Edition p. 171. 10 Ibidem , p. 172. 11 Jordi Montaña, Francisco Guzmán & Isa Moll, Branding and Design Management: A Brand Design Management Model , 23 J. MKTG. MGMT., pp. 829-840 (2007). 12 Gabriella Lojacono & Gianfranco Zaccai, The Evolution of the Design-Inspired Enterprise , 45 MIT SLOAN MGMT. REV. 75, pp. 77-78 (2004). 13 Jordi Montaña, Francisco Guzmán & Isa Moll, op . cit . 14 Ibidem .