Investopedia: The Long-Tail Value Of Supreme Brands

The way tech companies like Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) and drug companies like Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) fight to defend their patents, you'd think that success in business is impossible unless you can lock up your best ideas behind walls of patents and copyrights. While these legal protections for innovation are indeed important, a host of companies have demonstrated that there are considerable rewards to be wrung from brands and reputations protected by little more than the consumer's ongoing preference for the real McCoy and the value of the trademark.

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