Can i trademark a term [New Info]

Last updated : Sept 5, 2022

Can you trademark a phrase or word?

A trademark can be any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things that identifies your goods or services. It's how customers recognize you in the marketplace and distinguish you from your competitors. The word “trademark” can refer to both trademarks and service marks.

Can you copyright a phrase or saying?

Copyright does not protect names, titles, slogans, or short phrases. In some cases, these things may be protected as trademarks. Contact the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, TrademarkAssistanceCenter@uspto.gov or see Circular 33, for further information.

How do I trademark a phrase for free?

You can not register a trademark for free. However, you can establish something known as a "common law trademark" for free, simply by opening for business. The benefit of relying on common law trademark rights is that it's free, and you don't need to do any specific work filling out forms, etc.

What words Cannot be trademarked?

• Proper names or likenesses without consent from the person.
• Generic terms, phrases, or the like.
• Government symbols or insignia.
• Vulgar or disparaging words or phrases.
• The likeness of a U.S. President, former or current.
• Immoral, deceptive, or scandalous words or symbols.
• Sounds or short motifs.

How much is it to trademark a phrase?

If you have ever asked yourself how much does it cost to trademark a phrase, according to the current fee schedule on the USPTO, trademark registration fees cost $275 per mark per class. If you need an attorney's assistance, the cost averages around $1,000 to $2,000.

Should I trademark a phrase?

Is it Worth it to Trademark a Phrase? If you are using a catch phrase, tag line, or sales line with your goods or services, then yes, it is almost always worth it to trademark that phrase if it is available.

Can you trademark a phrase on a T shirt?

Yes, you can trademark a t-shirt. You can trademark a name, logo, or slogan that appears on your t-shirts. You may register a trademark for any materials that identify and promote your particular goods and services. This information was provided by our founding attorney, Xavier Morales, Esq.

Is Nike Just Do It trademarked?

Just Do It or JDI for short (stylized as JUST DO IT. and set in Futura Bold Condensed) is a trademark of shoe company Nike, and it is one of the core components of Nike's brand. The slogan was coined in 1988 at an advertising agency meeting.

How long does a trademark last?

A federal trademark lasts 10 years from the date of registration, with 10-year renewal terms. Between the fifth and sixth year after the registration date, the registrant must file an affidavit to state that the mark is still in use.

Can I trademark my slogan?

Yes, you can trademark a slogan. It is common for businesses to use catchy slogans in their marketing and advertising. In order to secure a trademark on your slogan it must be creative enough to be distinct from other slogans and identify your good, product, or company.

How do you tell if a phrase is trademarked?

You can search all applied-for and registered trademarks free of charge by using the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)'s Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS). If your mark includes a design element, you will have to search it by using a design code.

What are the 4 types of trademarks?

• Generic. A generic term is a common description that does not receive trademark protection.
• Descriptive.
• Suggestive.
• Arbitrary or Fanciful.

Will Google lose its trademark?

Google retains its trademark though the name is used as a verb, appeals court says. A federal appeals court has ruled that Google has not lost trademark protection for its name even though some people use “google” in a generic sense as a verb for the act of searching the internet.

What is not protected by trademark?

Generic terms are not protected by trademark because they refer to a general class of products rather than indicating a unique source.

How do you legally protect a phrase?

You can trademark a phrase at the local level by applying at your state trademark office. To trademark a phrase locally, you must already be using the phrase publicly. You can apply for a nationwide trademark with the USPTO. With the USPTO you can apply with the "intent to use."

What does it mean to trademark a phrase?

You must be using the phrase or intending to use the phrase in connection with the sale of goods or services. Your trademarked phrase is only protected against use by others in the same class of business. The trademark must be used to identify your company as the source of the goods or services.

Can I protect a phrase?

A person can't trademark a phrase just because they like it—the phrase must be tied to a business. Trademarked phrases are only protected against the use of others in the same business class. The phrase must identify the commercial organization as the source of goods or services for the trademark.

How do you coin a term?

For the purposes of ensuring credit for coining the word, you might want to keep on hand conclusive evidence that you are the originator of the word – specifically, something that notes the word and the date (or at least the approximate date) that you created it.

How do I patent a shirt slogan?

In order to register your T-shirt design, you will need to file Form VA (which stands for visual arts) and pay a fee. Forms are available from the Copyright.gov website. You will also need to include two copies of the logo that you will be registering.

What is a trademark vs copyright?

Copyright protects original work, whereas a trademark protects items that distinguish or identify a particular business from another. Copyright is generated automatically upon the creation of original work, whereas a trademark is established through common use of a mark in the course of business.

Check these related keywords for more interesting articles :
How to start a brand in pakistan
Registered trademark markdown
How to trademark a logo in arizona
How to know if amazon product is patented
How to mitigate brand risk
Intellectual property clause in employment contract example
How to remove copyright mp3 files
Is intellectual property important
Filing trademark application in india
Copyright free font for commercial use
Trademark brand name uspto
Register trademark different class
What is a trademark serial number
Wipo trademark search china
How to make copyright in after effects

Write a comment

Thanks for this great article

Thanks for your comment Tami Lahne, have a nice day.
- Chong Wally, Staff Member

can you register a descriptive term as a trademark in the next five minutes I am going to discuss a simple way to get your descriptive term registered as a trademark even though normally you wouldn't be able to do this and if you stay in to the end I have a free resource that talks about things that you normally can't register as trademarks so stay in to the end drop a comment and I will give that to you just for the asking you don't even have to opt-in so a couple days ago I was at Pilates and they had this wonderful display of toe socks and I noticed something interesting about it I'll show you what it is here all right if you see so this is a picture I took in the display and you see this little circle R here next to toe socks I thought to myself huh well that's kind of interesting toe socks is merely descriptive for socks that have toes so I'm kind of wondering how they were able to get that registered now people ask me all the time Angela where do you get ideas for all of your videos well my friends there is an endless amount of material out there because brands are everywhere so why don't I show you how they were able to get this registered as a trademark so this is the toe socks trademark database here these are all the brands or all the applications that they tried to register you can see most of them are dead now the reason for that is because I was looking through some of their trademark applications and it looks like they have a very inexperienced trademark attorney working on their stuff it might not even be an attorney at all I suspect you matter it's somebody who's super inexperienced because they keep making all kinds of kind of dumb rookie mistakes on these trademark applications now the one that I want to talk about is this one right here the first one that they filed for toe socks so let's have a look at that now that this is registered because it actually has he in this column it says registration number every application that gets filed gets an application number but only registered trademarks get a registration number so let's go look at the registration you can see it's actually a logo it's a logo with the word toe socks as part of the logo so what they did was they said ok toe socks is merely descriptive so let's register the logo actually I don't think they're trademark attorney or whoever filed this application was really thinking about it too much I think they just kind of stumbled across this at least judging from what I've seen in the records so far anyway if you look down here it actually says no claim is made to the exclusive right to use toe socks apart from the market as shown so what have they done here they have actually disclaimed the merely descriptive part of this trademark and that is the only thing that allowed this mark to register now normally descriptive terms cannot serve as trademarks because they're not distinctive and if we let people register descriptive terms as trademarks it would prevent other people from fairly describing their goods for example if somebody else made toe socks they would not be able to say hey we make toe socks right these socks with I don't know if you can really see it here but they have a little cutouts let me just see little cutouts for the toes right so and that's so that you can you can grip the Pilates Reformer a little bit better so they actually had to give up their right to the exclusive use of the words toe socks in order to get this registered but let's go look at something else too now this second mark the second application that actually registered they were actually able to get toe socks registered but look at the goods they're not for socks they're for sandals so they were able to get toe socks registered but not first for sandals now what else have they done here they actually are attempting to register the word toe socks the word itself not just the logo and they're running into some pushback from the examiner the examiner notes so let's look at how they have applied for this they've applied under two f2f means that your mark has been on the registry long enough such that it has acquired secondary meaning so what does that mean it means that people associate these goods with your brand so they're alleging that the word toe socks is now so recognizable that everybody recognizes that it company these socks come from their company so what does the examiner have to say about this well the examiner says and I agree with the examiner on this one in this office action the examiner says listen this term is generic it is generic for socks with toes so you're not going to be able to register this because if we let you register this generic term it will prevent other people from using the term to fairly describe their trademarks and remember that's not what the trademark registry is for the trademark registry exists to distinguish one company's goods from another company's goods it is not meant to be anti-competitive it is not meant to prevent people from fairly describing their goods and services now if you would like the free resource about things that you can't register as trademarks go ahead and drop a comment just ask for it and I'll send it on over I'm Angela Len Lots and I go live here on weekdays to talk trademarks and copyrights you can find me online at trademark doctor dotnet you could also find me here on facebook at facebook.com/ forward slash trademark doctor if you have trademark questions message me on the trademark doctor page and I will answer those in a future live video you

Thanks Isaura your participation is very much appreciated
- Chong Wally

About the author

Chong Wally

I've studied reference management software at University of Alaska Anchorage in Anchorage and I am an expert in electrochemistry. I usually feel mad. My previous job was chief financial officer I held this position for 20 years, I love talking about fly tying and bushcraft. Huge fan of Coldplay I practice tennis and collect premiums.