After Nissan Motor Co. tackled technical restrictions on its first electric car involving range, battery life and temperature fluctuations, it still had to come up with a name. Choosing Leaf wasn't easy.
Before settling on names for new models, the carmaker consults lawyers in as many as 200 countries or territories, including the Canary Islands, to make sure candidates aren't trademarked or considered offensive in local languages.
"It was a minor miracle that the name was cleared," said Kozue Nakayama, Nissan's head of brand management. "We go through a vetting process to avoid words that have negative connotations or links to sex and violence."