Eau de Fracking, Trademark for a Smell
Flotek Industries Inc., a Texas producer of hydraulic-fracturing fluids used to extract oil and gas from rocks, seeks to trademark their scent used for their products. Virginia Trademark Officials received vials of clear liquid smelling of oranges from Flotek in hopes to demonstrate that customers have come to associate the orange scent with its fracking chemicals. Currently, there are only three scents listed on the TMO’s principal register and in order to be successful, applicants have to show that a fragrance serves no important practical function other than to help identify and distinguish a brand. This may be a growing tool for companies to use and promote a product since the sense of smell has been proven to be very influential in memory and decision making.