Clarity Strategic^TM

There's a formal definition for trademark dilution, but for practical purposes it means "someone spent a heck of a lot of money to associate a trademark with a particular defined set of goods or services, and they don't want that association watered down."

How does that happen?

• if the trademark is applied to or associated with a dissimilar product
• if the trademark is applied to or associated with an inferior product

This usually means the trademark is "applied to or associated with" someone else's product. Because sometimes people can get confused. And sometimes competitors may want to undermine the trademarked product.

And this is why we have

• state laws against trademark dilution
• the 2006 Federal Trademark Dilution Act
• long documents written by holders of brands, explaining how their brands are to be used properly

This gets to the point I want to make here, a major difference between a franchise operator and any other kind of entrepreneur:

I have seen parent companies tell franchise operators that they CAN'T do the following:

• engage in joint promotional campaigns with other companies
• independently develop ad campaigns, whether for traditional media or the Internet
• independently engage in charitable or fund-raising activities

...all because these activities might dilute the parent company's trademark.

The parent company may give franchise owners the opportunity to follow one or more of these strategies in a manner consistent with the proper use of the trademark, but the thing is, you have to LOOK. And if you are a franchise operator, you should check with an attorney with a franchising background to be sure of what you can and cannot do with the brand. Better yet, you should have an attorney like that know you before you buy into the franchise. Be safe out there!