Seattle Trademark Lawyer

GeekWire and others today reported on a new global brand value study.

Seattle companies did well. Microsoft ranked fifth ($76.6B). Amazon was 18th ($34.077B).

Both were down over last year.

That’s interesting, but to me the real story is how valuable brands are. An intangible icon worth $76.6 billion?! How amazing is that?! And the mere act of putting the Amazon name on the functional equivalent of Amazon’s business increases its value by by more than $34 billion.

That’s the power of trademarks. These companies have built incredible reputations. They’re trusted, even admired. They’re handsomely rewarded by consumers for delivering on countless promises. And they should be. Hopefully their return on investment will encourage them to keep doing so for years to come. What shouldn’t be lost is the fact they have the trademark to thank for enabling happy consumers to come back for more.

Worldwide top 100 most valuable brands here. Study author MillardBrown’s news release with commentary here.