Having just marked the centennial of the iconic Coke bottle, the time is ripe to reflect on Coca-Cola’s achievement in brand identity. With its unique design, the Coke bottle stood out among other colas and helped consumers to find—and bond with—the real thing. But analysis of the Coke bottle’s history reveals even more than a grand marketing success. It also presents an ideal case study in deliberate differentiation and the important interplay of intellectual property and product design strategies.

Though it began over a hundred years ago, the Coke bottle story illustrates strategies still used today to differentiate products deliberately. It also reminds us that intellectual property counsel can do more than merely protect design innovations after they are completed. We can (and should) play an early and active role in the design process itself, working shoulder-to-shoulder with the design team. In addition to our traditional role as protector, intellectual property counsel adds great value when guiding the forces that create unique and iconic designs, helping companies plan for and purposefully deliver differentiation, and then helping them to protect and promote it.

The Coke Bottle Story