What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger: on the determinants of trademark survivability over the long term

Purpose Brands and trademarks are rather different in essence but complementary phenomena in practice. Trademarks provide legal protection to brands, representing a concrete and measurable asset. They are strategic for brand managers, but they have been relatively neglected in branding studies. This paper aims to delve into an entire trademark registry of a Western economy and identifies the factors that determine trademark duration over the long term. Design/methodology/approach To analyze trademark survival, this study relies on the Cox Proportional Hazard Model that estimates the hazard rates as a function of the survival time and a set of covariates. This allows examining the factors influencing the mortality rate of trademarks at a particular point of time through their life span. Findings The results reveal that legal oppositions significantly reduce competitors’ trademark duration, serving as a protective measure against entrants threatening the market power of incumbents. Also, that the number of assignments/licenses and trademark breadth, reflecting brand value, enhances survival. Finally, other positive factors include the number of trademarks and patents held by applicants, as well as their status as nonresidents or firms. Originality/value The investigation analyzes all existing trademarks recorded in the first official registry of the world—institutionalized in Spain in 1850—and tracks their longevity up to 2010. This is an original approach that contributes to the understanding of the long-term consequences of distinct legal, commercial and administrative trademark strategies. The results provide interesting insights for both branding scholars and practitioners.