"Coca-Cola, Branding, and the Quest for Trademark Regulation, 1886-the 1950s"

This paper looks at Coca-Cola branding and the quest for trademark regulation as the Atlanta-based soft drink maker extended business operations to Latin America. It specifically examines how company fear that trademark laws in some nations would not protect Coca-Cola's most valuable asset—its brand name—kept the soft drink maker out of Latin America's largest markets until the 1940s. Coca-Cola entered much smaller Caribbean and Central American markets in the early 1900s before entering countries like Brazil or Argentina in the early 1940s. The company did not extend business operations to markets where it felt that trademark laws did not adequately protect its brand name. As a result, the soft drink maker saw trademark laws and regulations as critical for protecting its brand and a prerequisite for corporate expansion abroad. In other words, branding and the institutional environment in Latin America—more than market forces—played a critical role in Coca-Cola's expansion to Latin America. This paper looks at Coca-Cola branding and the quest for trademark regulation as the Atlanta-based soft drink maker extended business operations to Latin America. It specifically examines how company fear that trademark laws in some nations would not protect Coca-Cola's most valuable asset—its brand name—kept the soft drink maker out of Latin America's largest markets until the 1940s. Coca-Cola entered much smaller Caribbean and Central American markets in the early 1900s before entering countries like Brazil or Argentina in the early 1940s. The company did not extend business operations to markets where it felt that trademark laws did not adequately protect its brand name. As a result, the soft drink maker saw trademark laws and regulations as critical for protecting its brand and a prerequisite for corporate expansion abroad. In other words, branding and the institutional environment in Latin America—more than market forces—played a critical role in Coca-Cola's expansion to Latin America.