A Guide to Trademarking Words and Phrases
Or, it is Really Possible to "Own" the Rights to a Word?™
Distinction can be manifested through whimsy or, to put it more aptly, meaningless. A good example is Xerox, which is sheer whimsy and was utterly lacking in meaning before it became synonymous with making a copy. This is the kind of trademarkable invented word known technically as a neologism.™ If the word can't be located in any primary dictionary, then it can be up for grabs for trademarking, though the lack of a prior definition is no guarantee.
You may be aware that the estate of the Beatles and Apple Computer were for a long time engaged in a trademark infringement case. This one takes the cake for stupidity.™ After all, how is possible in anyone but a lawyer's mind that you could own the rights to a word commonly used a billion times a day? An apple has been around since, well, creation, right? (According to some.)™ The battle between the Beatles and Apple Computer is a case study in how you can trademark a word that has no meaning within the context to which it will be applied. For instance, let's say you wanted to start a business that sold shoes and you named it Sundial Shoes.™ Well, a sundial is completely devoid of contextual meaning when applied to shoes. On other hand, if you wanted to trademark Sundial Clocks™ you could potentially run into problems. A similar distinction can be made by using trademarking a word that merely suggests the nature of a business. For instance, Soulless Connections™ could probably receive the okay for a business that repaired shoes because the customer could easily apprehend the connection between the name and the business. It requires just enough of a leap of imagination to transform from customers to imbue it with the distinct quality necessary for trademarking,
Other than those, you are pretty much locked out of trademarking. Unless, of course, you're Phil Jackson or Paris Hilton.™
Published by Timothy Sexton - Featured Contributor in Arts & Entertainment
Timothy Sexton was named this site's very first Writer of the Year. Today he has several columns on Yahoo Movies and a weekly column on The Simpsons on Yahoo TV. He has published over 8,000 articles coverin... View profile
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6 Comments
Post a CommentPat Riley, not Phil Jackson, trademarked the term threepeat
Consider this™ comment an attempt to™ play catch-up on your™ articles, Tim. Of course, if™ celebrities would just bother to™ read the™ legal details involving trademarks, they'd know that™ you can't really legally trademark a™ common word that's™ in the dictionary. A judge would just throw out such a™ case. But then, they™ would never know that™ I™ somehow managed to™ skirt the™ law and™ trademarked every pronoun, infinitive and™ noun marker™ available in the™ English™ language. That™ also means that™ me™ and™ Governator of Cali-fornia, Ah-nold, will be™ squaring off in court someday over the™ rights to this™ and™ that.™ Got trademark?™ ;)
I love the little TM touches throughout the article. It is utterly ridiculous that people can trademark common words and time that people with common sense demanded that our lawmakers put a stop to this practice.
Angelina Jolie tried to sue a perfume company because they named their perfume "Shiloh" (which is the name of her daughter). She actually had to back down in that case, and it's amazing to me that the little guy won.
So if I was to trademark "incompetent bush" would it be best to say it represented a landscaping mistake, or should I go with the obivous?
Timothy
Fascinating! I have had items removed from Ebay because I used the words "Dick and Jane type reader", not realizing that this was a copyrighted term. The lawyer was kindly but clear about the copyright infringement. It hadn't even occurred to me!