NIKE at the top of minds of Icelanders

Nike is the trademark most frequently mentioned by Icelanders when asked which trademark first comes to mind. In a survey conducted by Maskína for the Icelandic Intellectual Property Office from January 10 to 15, 14.3% of respondents mentioned Nike. Coca-Cola came in second with 12.2% mentions, followed by Apple (3.8%), Pepsi (3.6%), and IKEA (3.3%).

Four Icelandic trademarks were among the top ten most frequently mentioned. These are: 66° North (3.0%), Bónus (2.5%), Mjólkursamsalan (1.7%), and ELKO (1.7%). Significant differences were observed in the responses based on gender and age. For instance, men mentioned Coca-Cola (14.5%) more often than Nike (11.6%), while women mentioned Nike (17.7%) more frequently than Coca-Cola (9.8%). Nike was also mentioned more often by the youngest respondents aged 18-29 (19.5%) compared to Coca-Cola (7.3%).

NIKE Innovative C.V. had the word mark NIKE and its logo registered in January 1979, for products including bags, sports shoes, athletic wear, games and toys, and fitness and sports goods. In a similar survey conducted for the Icelandic Intellectual Property Office a year ago, MS and related trademarks were most frequently mentioned, but the surveys are not directly comparable from year to year as the question was slightly modified. This time, participants were simply asked, "Which trademark first comes to mind?" allowing only one trademark to be mentioned.

The survey was conducted online through Maskína's National Panel, a randomly selected group of people from the National Registry. Respondents were 18 years and older from all over the country. The data was weighted to align with Statistics Iceland's figures, ensuring the respondent group accurately reflected the nation's demographics by gender, age, residence, and education level.

Registering a trademark grants the owner the exclusive right to use the trademark for specific goods and services. The most common types of trademarks are word marks and figurative marks, but many types of trademarks can be registered, such as sound marks, color marks, and placement marks.