What’s in a Name?: The Porsche “Taycan" and Global Trademark Clearance

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By: Garett Rostkowski

To the chagrin of many disgruntled petrol-heads (like myself), electric cars are big business. Sure they’re better for the environment (maybe), but electric vehicles lack the visceral sensations of a combustion engine — the aural pleasure of the cold start with its burbles and snarls, the mechanical fragrance of motor oil and gasoline, the tactile vibrations at play in the dance between an engine and its transmission (my staunch advocacy of manual shifting cars should clue you to my stance on electric vehicles) — But I digress…  

Like it or not, across the auto industry, resources are shifting toward the development of electric cars and charging stations to support them. Everyone is familiar with the recent disruption caused by Tesla, but the sustained success of the electric vehicle market depends on the performance of a more established automotive brand — Porsche.

Yes, you read that right. Like Bob Dylan before them (and equally as controversial), Porsche is going electric — and the crown jewel of this $1 billion operation is a fully electric sports car called the Porsche Taycan.

 
 

Porsche announced the “Taycan” trademark as part of its “70 years of Porsche Sports Cars” event on June 8th and, according to the company, the name (pronounced TIE-CON) can roughly be translated as “lively young horse” — a reference to the prancing stallion at the center of the iconic Porsche crest. 

Personally I think the name is fine, and it resonates with other model names in the Porsche lineup (Macan, Cayenne, Cayman…), but public response to the branding has been, well, lukewarm at best.

In a recent episode of the popular automotive podcast “Spike’s Car Radio,” host Spike Feresten sat down with Porsche brand ambassador Jeff Zwart and Porsche Motorsports North America President and CEO Daniel Armbruster to discuss, among other things, how Porsche goes about naming their vehicles. Zwart explained the difficulty in clearing a name in the global marketplace: “One of the things, and every manufacturer goes through it is — what does that word they’ve come up (with) to name their car mean in every market around the world?…a lot of times it will go all the way around the world until it gets to this one country where it means something bad and they can’t use it.” 

Okay sure, Porsche is a global brand and its model names need to translate, or better yet, remain neutral in different languages throughout the world. But that’s only part of the story. Global brand names also must clear international trademark registration through a process known as the Madrid Protocol. This is an international treaty that allows a trademark owner (in any country party to the treaty) to apply for trademark registration and protection by its member nations (as of this blog post, there are 101 member nations party to the Madrid Protocol). 

As in U.S. national trademark registrations, international trademarks must not conflict with existing marks in similar classes. So in this case, the Taycan name had to pass global muster socially and legally. Which is why, as Spike so succinctly put it in his podcast: “we see so many (auto) manufacturers using numbers now instead of names.”

Shameless plug: If YOU have a trademark you’d like to register internationally through the Madrid Protocol, shoot me a call or email. I’d be happy to discuss your options, and file the mark on your behalf!