The annual Trends in Trademarks report, published since 1992 by Philadelphia-based law firm Dechert LLP, and spearheaded by firm partner Glenn Gundersen, came up poker in its 2005 edition. The 2005 report identifies trends in trademarks registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for 2004, findings that the firm believes offer valuable insight into the marketer's current mindset, and the economy as a whole. Trademarks featuring words related to gambling, gaming and casinos in general, and poker in particular, increased tremendously between 2003 and 2004.

In 2004, 282 trademarks were filed containing the word “poker," compared with just 77 one year earlier, an increase of 266 percent. If that isn't impressive enough, trademarks filed for poker-related products and services increased 410 percent, from just 58 in 2003 to 296 in 2004. Growth in the number of trademarks filed for general gambling and gaming-related products and services, however, was significantly more modest, increasing but 42 percent between 2003 and 2004.

Operating under the firm's assumption that the rate of registration serves as an indication of marketing and consumer trends, the increase in poker-related filings is further proof of poker's growing sphere of influence during the past couple of years. The report stated that new filings give insight into “what companies think will appeal to consumers in the coming months and years." According to the report's findings, this would imply that in 2004, poker was perceived as a worthwhile and lasting marketing prospect. Indeed, 2004 marked the beginning of serious interest in all things poker. The industry was optimistic and the world as a whole was dumbfounded by the game's somewhat sudden burst into the mainstream. 2005 continued to that same beat, with poker companies posting considerable growth and even more notable, PartyGaming's monumental June IPO.

News of PartyGaming's recent slump in growth, however, cast a shadow on the optimism that characterized the poker boom prior to that point. Now all parties connected to the industry, poker companies and investors alike, are beginning to fear that the poker honeymoon may have come to an end. Did 2004's surge in poker patents prove a hasty move for marketers? Is the poker phenomenon proving to be but a flash in the pan? I suppose we'll have to wait for next year's Trends in Trademarks Report to see what the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has to say about it.

Source:  Poker777 Staff

Monday, 12 September 2005