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Apple Computer's iPod is a wildly popular product, and a new iPod Nano version from Apple is in strong competition with the Creative Zen Nano portable musical device. Lawyers are not likely to defend Creative on name infringement, and there is no nano in iPod Nano either, but Apple will get considerable marketing advantage among young and old from the use of the two syllables. Consumers are also not likely to become confused as to what nanotechnology actually is just from seeing it on billboards promoting iPod Nano. In general terms, however, there is a risk to marketing the word nano. Consumer goods will probably hide or promote the word nano based on the length of the product lifecycle, how much nanotechnology is actually in the product, and how much direct contact with the product the consumer has. For instance, most cosmetics makers will probably not hype any nano characteristics of products because products have long lives and touch the user. In contrast, sporting goods and electronic goods makers probably will hype nano, because the products have short lifecycles, nano quantities are small, and there is limited direct contact. Harder to pinpoint are cleaning and protective agents, which can have short or long lifecycles.
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