Leaked document reveals Microsoft's rebranding plans after Nokia acquisition

While Microsoft finally completed its Nokia devices and services acquisition in April this year, there still remains some confusion over the branding of upcoming devices. We recently attended the Lumia 630 launch in Mumbai, while the press release and venue had replaced Nokia with Microsoft Devices, the device still carried the Nokia branding. Recently, the company also recently showed its first Nokia Lumia LTE phones. Now, prolific tipster @evleaks has released a document giving some insights on how Microsoft plans to approach the new branding scheme for the integration. The list of changes is long, and the leaked document was reportedly formed back in January. So, it is quite likely that some guidelines may have already been implemented or altered by the company.

Goodbye, Pure: near-term, post-transition guidance for ex-Nokians ... - http://t.co/wrR3Unkptl pic.twitter.com/GFHz8ySJvr — @evleaks (@evleaks) June 12, 2014

 Some key highlights of the document reveal Microsoft will be permitted to continue using the 'Nokia' brand for Lumia devices for 18 months. This means from the time the deal was sealed in April to November 25, 2015. It plans to use the branding until December 31, 2015 for the X devices and some other mobile phones until April 25 2024. However, it also mentions that Microsoft could start using its own brand on new devices sooner than the trademark licenses for the Nokia brand expire. The statement reads, “Microsoft brand will only replace the Nokia brand in product, applications and experiences when Microsoft has launched a new product into the market.” The leaked document also adds that products will continue to be referred to as “Nokia Lumia, Nokia Asha, Nokia X, etc.” from Day One. As Microsoft now owns the Lumia and Asha brands, they can choose to launch a Microsoft Lumia or a Microsoft Asha device. Another key pointer is that the company is planning how, when and where to introduce the ‘Microsoft brand [to Nokia retail stores] over a significant period of time’. Now, Microsoft has no rights over the ‘Nokia tune’ ringtone or “Connecting People” tagline or even the ‘hands’ animation. They still remain the property of Nokia. Employees who have joined Microsoft from Nokia are instructed to tell people that they “work for Microsoft” or “I work on the Microsoft devices business”. When the document was crafted in January, the company hadn’t decided on how to rebrand Nokia Care Centers or Nokia apps.