With the rapid development of our country's economy and the continuous deepening of transnational operations and international trade, trademarks and brands have become words that are often mentioned in economic activities, and their status in intangible asset evaluation is also rising. Trademark and brand are two different concepts with similarities and are often confused in the process of use and evaluation. However, it is of great significance to distinguish the meaning of the two in both theory and practice.

1. Comparison of the meanings of trademarks and brands

Trademarks and brands are both related and different. Brands contain broader content than trademarks. A trademark emphasizes that it must be registered and protected by law, and others may not infringe upon the registrant's trademark exclusive rights. The brand emphasizes its use in the process of providing products and services and does not necessarily require registration.

1. Look at trademarks and brands from an economic perspective. From the definition, a trademark is a sign with distinctive characteristics used by producers and operators on the goods or services they produce, manufacture, process or distribute to distinguish their source; a brand is a name, noun, mark, symbol or design. or a combination thereof, the purpose of which is to identify the products or services of a specific seller.

Trademarks and brands are difficult to distinguish from definitions. We distinguish them from two aspects: equity and market. First of all, from the perspective of rights and interests, after a trademark is registered, the registrant enjoys exclusive rights and is protected by the trademark law. If other companies or individuals use or imitate it, it will constitute infringement and be punished by law. This has laid a legal foundation for protecting the rights and interests of the owner. Base. Relatively speaking, brand is not directly protected by trademark law. It is a market concept closely related to consumers, and its formation is inseparable from consumers' recognition and support. Brands can express the attributes and quality of the products they rely on, as well as the users of the products and the fundamental benefits they can obtain. A high-quality brand is a promise of reliable quality and guaranteed credibility, which will increase consumers' trust in the brand and user loyalty. In addition, with the help of brands, companies can convey their own unique values ??through their products, as well as the corporate culture and personality permeated in them, creating a buzz in the hearts of consumers.

2. Look at trademarks and brands from a legal perspective. From a legal perspective, registered trademarks are protected by trademark law, but there is no brand law or law that directly protects brands. Trademark is a normative legal term. With the continuous development of the economy, trademark is no longer just an ordinary commodity mark, but has become an industrial property right. Brands, because of their formation reasons and connotations, are different from trademarks and do not have the same legal status as trademarks. Trademark law does not protect the exclusive rights of brands.

We can find that both trademarks and brands have functions that help users identify different competitors, and they are both intangible assets that bring benefits to the enterprise and have a certain value, but the connotations of the two are not the same. Not exactly the same. A trademark and a brand can be the same or different. A brand has a broader connotation than a trademark.

2. Comparison of factors affecting trademark and brand value assessment

Trademark value assessment is the assessment of the value of trademark rights. Trademarks and brands themselves do not generate income. Their economic value is affected by the economic benefits brought by the company's products and macroeconomic conditions, as well as by different evaluation purposes and other factors. We mainly discuss the different influencing factors to be considered in the value assessment of the two.

1. Factors affecting trademark value evaluation. Compared with brands, the main difference in trademark value assessment is that it is affected by the legal status of the trademark. The first is the trademark registration status. Trademark evaluation is the evaluation of trademark exclusive rights, and trademark exclusive rights are the exclusive rights of registered trademark owners. Only the evaluation of registered trademarks has value and significance, and only registered trademarks have economic value. Even if an unregistered trademark can bring economic value, because the ownership is not determined, the law does not provide necessary protection for it, and its economic value cannot be recognized, and there is no need to confirm its economic value.

The second is the use of trademarks. The validity period of a registered trademark is ten years. If the ten years expire without applying for renewal, the registration of the trademark will be cancelled, and the trademark rights will expire. When a registered trademark expires and needs to continue to be used, the trademark registrant can submit an application for renewal on time, and it can be renewed indefinitely with the approval of the Trademark Office. In this way, trademark rights may become intangible assets with permanent benefits. The value of a trademark approaching the end of its renewal period and protection period is highly uncertain.

Trademark rights are strictly territorial, and trademark rights are only protected within a certain geographical scope recognized by law.

The geographical scope of trademark rights has a great impact on the value of trademark rights. When assessing the value of trademark assets, you should also pay attention to the type and scope of goods registered with the trademark, and consider whether the scope of use of the trademark is consistent with the scope of registration. Trademark rights are only protected by law when used on approved goods. Beyond this scope, they are not protected. With exclusive rights, the economic benefits arising from the portion beyond the scope of use should not be included in the expected benefits of the trademark right. Therefore, the type and scope of goods registered with a trademark also affect the value of trademark assets.

2. Factors affecting brand value evaluation. The influencing factors of brand value evaluation can be summarized into two categories, namely basic elements and additional elements. The basic elements are the tangible elements such as the name and product packaging that make up the brand. Through the combination of elements, the company's unique product and brand personality is formed and continuously positively strengthened, and a complete brand image is built in the minds of consumers. The basic elements of brand value are the supporting foundation for additional elements. The additional elements of the brand are gradually constructed and formed in the continuous production and operation process of the enterprise. They are valuable because of the recognition of consumers, such as the values, responsibilities and obligations of the enterprise represented by the brand. The most important of them is the core values ??of the enterprise. Stable core values ??have long-term guiding significance and influence on the enterprise, products and consumers' perception of the brand. Therefore, enterprises often need to continuously maintain the additional elements of the brand and carry out corresponding communication and dissemination work.

Compared with the basic elements, the added value of the brand has more room for development. In brand value assessment, more and more attention is paid to the value of additional factors of the brand. For example, the emotional communication between enterprises and consumers, consumers' awareness and loyalty to the brand, as well as the design innovation and technological innovation represented by the brand, etc., must be considered in the brand value assessment.

To sum up, from the perspective of asset evaluation, both trademarks and brands belong to the category of intangible assets of enterprises, but brands have a larger scope than trademarks. In current practice, it is more about brand value assessment. Internationally and in my country, valuable brands are evaluated and their brand value rankings are released every year. Generally speaking, the evaluation is mainly carried out from three perspectives. The first is the evaluation method based on finance, such as cost method, market method, and income method; the second is the evaluation method based on market factors, such as Interbrand evaluation method and World Brand Laboratory method. , WorldFinancial evaluation method, Beijing brand company evaluation method; third, evaluation methods based on consumer factors, such as Aike's ten-factor method of brand equity and Keller's brand value evaluation model. The methods of trademark value assessment and brand value assessment tend to be similar, but in the practice of assessment, attention should be paid to distinguishing its meaning and different influencing factors to assess its value more accurately.

(Reprinted from "Shopping Mall Modernization" by Shi Lihua)