What Can and Cannot be Trademarked

Are you sure your product, brand, or company qualifies? Take a look below.

Also, are you sure you need a Trademark.. perhaps you need to Copyright something, perhaps a Patent is needed to protect your IP rights.

There are many different types of things that can be trademarked under U.S. trademark law, including:

· Word Marks Words, phrases, slogans or combinations of words can be trademarked for use on goods and services. Examples: NIKE, “Just Do It”, “Think Different”.

· Logo/Design Marks
Logos, stylized art, icons, symbols or other designs can be trademarked. Examples: The Nike Swoosh, the Apple logo, the Starbucks Siren.

· Trade Dress The total image and overall appearance of a product or its packaging can potentially be trademarked as trade dress. Examples: The redesigned Coke bottle shape, the pink insulation of Owens-Corning fiberglass.

· Product Shapes/Configurations Distinctive, non-functional shapes and designs of products themselves can be trademarked. Examples: The triangular shape of Toblerone chocolate, the curvy shape of the Coca-Cola bottle.

· Colors Single colors or combinations of colors can be trademarked for specific goods/services if they acquire distinctiveness. Examples: The brown color for UPS, the pink color for Owens-Corning insulation.

· Sounds Distinctive sounds can function as trademarks, like sound logos or audio cues. Examples: The NBC chimes, the T-Mobile sonic boom.

· Scents/Fragrances Unique scents and fragrances can potentially be trademarked if they identify the source of goods/services. Examples: Plumeria scent for sewing thread, cherry scent for tire dressing products.

· Product Titles/Names Titles of individual products or brands can be trademarked. Examples: WINDOWS software, PLAYSTATION game console, CRUNCH cereal.

· Business/Domain Names Company, business or domain names used for goods/services can qualify as trademarks. Examples: APPLE computers, AMAZON e-commerce.

The key requirementrs are that the potential tradeamrk is distinctive, non-functional, and used in commerce to identify the source of teh products or services. With some exceptions, almost any indicator meeting these criteria can potentially be trademarked.

Cannot Trademark

Here are several types of things that cannot be trademarked under U.S. trademark law:

· Generic terms Generic words or phrases that merely describe the general category or class of goods/services cannot be trademarked. For example, you cannot trademark “car” for an automobile or “bank” for financial services.

· Descriptive terms Marks that are merely descriptive of the intended goods/services, their qualities, characteristics, functions, etc. cannot be trademarked unless they have acquired distinctiveness (secondary meaning) in the minds of consumers. Examples: “World’s Best Pizza”, “Xtra Bright Lightbulbs”.

· Deceptive terms Marks that are deceptive or misleading about the nature, qualities or geographic origin of the goods/services cannot be registered. For example, using “Himalayan” for salt not sourced from the Himalayas.

· Geographical terms Names of places that are primarily geographically descriptive cannot be trademarked, with some exceptions (if they acquire distinctiveness). For instance, “Moscow” cannot be trademarked for most goods/services.

· Surname rules Primarily surnames or family names cannot be trademarked unless they acquire secondary meaning or combine with other distinctive wording/design. For example, “Wilson” alone cannot be trademarked.

· Ornamental/functional features Purely ornamental or functional features of products cannot be trademarked. For example, the shape of a product container if it serves a functional purpose.

· Government symbols/insignia Official names, abbreviations, symbols or insignia of governments, nations, states, municipalities cannot be trademarked without permission.

· Immoral/scandalous matter Marks that contain immoral, deceptive or scandalous matter are prohibited from being registered as trademarks.

So in essence, marks that are generic, merely descriptive, deceptive, or use protected symbols/names in improper ways cannot typically qualify for trademark registration.

Marks that are generic, merely descriptive, deceptive, or use protected symbols/names in improper ways cannot typically qualify for trademark registration.