Name Awards

Lots of power from the sun.. and 3 companies with the same name!

As usual, I was checking trademarks before writing about a name. I thought there was a great educational story about the early-mover advantage of a name like Sunpower. At the same time, I was wondering when combinations of the words sun and power would be thought of as generic in the solar power industry.

Imagine my surprise to discover that the first Sunpower I was thinking of, the one that used to be largely owned by Cypress Semiconductor, was only one of three major Sunpowers in the country. So this first one is often referred to as Sunpower Corp. (of San Jose, CA, and Taiwan). They are a public company (SPWRA and SPWRB) and they have the registered trademark on the name for photovoltaic solar panels, etc.

Secondly there is Sunpower of Ohio. They also have a registered trademark on the name but for Stirling Engine technology rather than pholtaic systems. (A Stirling Engine systems uses reflectors to focus the heat of the sun on a contained liquid that then warms up causing it to spin and drive  a generator. Reminds me of a modern day steam train. But very effective since it requires no fuel other than sunshine). And they have major contracts right in the state of California too with very big power companies!

Then there is Sun Power Inc of Colorado. They are a large non-profit in the greater Denver area providing a host of various power solutions to local residents and businesses. They have just received an $80 million grant to aid in their cause, so they are non-trivial too.

Having multiple companies with the same, or similar names, in a new industry, is not unusual. What is strange here is that they have all grown to significant size without one managing to out-lawyer the others to get sole possession of the name. Let’s see who blinks first. I predict at least one of these names will be changed within  2 years.

PS. There are an interesting number of other registered trademarks on the name Sunpower too, including Snack Food, Vitamin Supplements, Car Tires, etc.

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