If you know the name NewsGator you know that it is in no way associated with spyware, however new users does not know this and Greg Reinacker is wondering whether this is hurting sales which made him wonder about a new name for the product. I think that a name change is in order seeing that the name is directly associated with the company which created the first ever spyware, not a great association. If that isn't convincing enough just take a look at what Gater Corp. did, they actually changed their name to something else to start over, if that isn't damning evidence I don't know what is :)

Take a look at the Greg's post and the discussion, brand recognition is always a fascinating topic. The idea of taking something without meaning and actually adding value to it is a mind boggling concept, just take the word 'Nike' which I am sure everybody agrees is a valuable trademark, weird to think that is comes from nothing...