Imagine Nike without the swoosh, McDonald’s with no golden arches, or Apple without the apple. Trademarks and patents can make or break a company. In the U.S. alone, intellectual property-intensive industries contribute trillions of dollars to the economy every year, and IP has become a key battleground between the world’s biggest economic powers, the U.S. and China.
Business Wars
McDonald's, Popeyes, Chick-Fil-A And The Chicken Sandwich Wars
Chick-fil-A has long dominated the chicken sandwich category in fast food. After Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen launched its own version of the chicken sandwich, other fast food chains like Wendy's and Shake Shack got into the battle. McDonalds is testing a new chicken sandwich in Houston and Knoxville, and analysts have predicted the fast food chain will launch its chicken sandwich sometime in 2020. Who's winning the chicken sandwich wars and what will 2020 hold?
Why Amazon Is Going After Netflix
When Amazon pursued the rights to a “Lord of the Rings” series in 2017, the company knew it would have to overcome some major obstacles to lure the J.R.R. Tolkien estate to its video-streaming platform. Amazon was a relative newcomer in video, with no track record of shepherding a blockbuster series. HBO, meanwhile, could tout its long history of hits, most notably “Game of Thrones,” a similarly epic series based on fantasy novels with a rabid fan base. Netflix, with more than 100 million subscribers, pioneered the on-demand model with hits such as “House of Cards” and “Orange is the New Black.” And not to be ignored, Apple was also in on the negotiations to acquire the rights for the upcoming TV show, according to people familiar with the matter. Amazon didn’t have much by way of Hollywood cred. What it had was the richest person on the planet in CEO Jeff Bezos, a big “Lord of the Rings” fan, who was promising the Amazon Studios team a huge budget to nab the series, a prequel to Tolkien’s “The Fellowship of the Ring.” But money alone wasn’t going to separate Amazon from the pack — Amazon’s $250 million offer wasn’t even the highest bid for the show’s rights, according to a person familiar with the matter. The ultimate selling point, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations, related to Amazon’s original business from over two decades ago: books. The Tolkien estate was convinced that in promoting the series, Amazon could sell truckloads of Tolkien’s fantasy novels, including “The Hobbit” and “The Silmarillion” as well as “The Lord of the Rings.” During meetings with the Tolkien estate and publisher HarperCollins, Amazon’s Sharon Tal Yguado, who was hired from Fox in 2017, demonstrated a near encyclopedic knowledge of Tolkien’s characters, stories and geography, said the people, who asked not to be named because the talks were private. Amazon’s ability to connect content to commerce won over the Tolkien estate. But just in case, to seal the deal, Amazon sent representatives of the Tolkien estate and its law firm, Greenberg Glusker, several crates of brand-new Amazon Echo speakers. Tolkien’s people were flattered, though they also joked that Amazon delivered the home assistants to eavesdrop on the negotiations, two of the people said. The “Lord of the Rings” series will start production in the next two years. The huge investment in a TV series has made Hollywood wonder just how much Bezos will spend on content. So far, Amazon has dabbled across the TV spectrum, with original content such as “Lord of the Rings,” a growing back catalog of movies and shows, as well as live sports from the National Football League and the Premier League. Just last month, Bezos was spotted chatting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at the Super Bowl, a reminder that Amazon has several opportunities in the coming years to make a big splash in America’s most lucrative sport. Meanwhile, The New York Post reported Thursday that Amazon is nearing a $3.5 billion deal to acquire the YES network, the regional sports network in New York that carries Yankees games.
How Disney+ is winning with The Mandalorian
The Mandalorian is the most popular show on Disney+ — and also the biggest television series overall right now. A big part of that is Baby Yoda. He’s cute, charming, and makes us want to watch week-after-week. He’s also a way for Disney to sell merchandise and capitalize on a character that immediately makes us go, “I want it.”
Why Breakfast Could Decide Who Wins the Fast-Food Wars
As more people are increasingly grabbing breakfast at fast-food joints, it’s making up larger and larger margins for the big players. To keep up with the competition, Wendy's is relaunching its breakfast menu after three failed attempts.
Tesla VS Waymo - Who Will Win the Race to Full Self Driving? + LiDAR VS Computer Vision
In this video I explore the data to see who will most likely be the first to release a Full Self Driving feature complete product to the market. How does Tesla compare to the competition and who has the best approach?