International branding and marketing activities of American companies in Argentina (1900-1939)

LLUCH ANDREA

Milan

Congreso; Business History Conference Joint Annual Meeting; 2009

Università Bocconi, Milan

 This paper seeks to analyze American firms’ marketing and branding activities in South America, particularly focusing on trademark protection of U.S. goods in Argentina between 1900 and 1930. Its purpose is not to track the performance of any one U.S. brand, but to explore developments associated with consumer and intermediate branded goods.  This paper argues that U.S. firms operating in Argentina actively –though not always successfully- defended their brand names, and they had to adapt to a different legal framework to protect their intangible assets, as Argentina’s trademark ownership rights were based on registration priority rather than use, the criterion followed by U.S. laws. Its preliminary findings were inspired by a renewed interest in branding and trademarks within a broader business and economic history context