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Can a "prefix" of a slogan be Trademarked?

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Basikboy

Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois

I am curious as to whether or not I can Trademark a prefix and use said prefix for more slogan based T-Shirt designs. For example, lets say I trademark "I am the greatest" and I have T-Shirt designs which use "I am the greatest Dad", "I am the greatest Brother", "I am the greatest Sister", etc. Thank you In advance for any help and or feedback.
 


quincy

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois

I am curious as to whether or not I can Trademark a prefix and use said prefix for more slogan based T-Shirt designs. For example, lets say I trademark "I am the greatest" and I have T-Shirt designs which use "I am the greatest Dad", "I am the greatest Brother", "I am the greatest Sister", etc. Thank you In advance for any help and or feedback.
Slogans or short phrases can be used as a trademark to identify a business, product or service, but the slogan or phrase must be either creative and distinctive enough to separate the goods and services from those of all others, or they must develop a secondary meaning in the marketplace as an identifier for your product or service - enough so that when a consumer hears "I am the greatest" they do not think of Muhammad Ali but your tee-shirt line.

That, I think, will be tough.
 

Basikboy

Member
Slogans or short phrases can be used as a trademark to identify a business, product or service, but the slogan or phrase must be either creative and distinctive enough to separate the goods and services from those of all others, or they must develop a secondary meaning in the marketplace as an identifier for your product or service - enough so that when a consumer hears "I am the greatest" they do not think of Muhammad Ali but your tee-shirt line.

That, I think, will be tough.
Thank you Quincy. I figured as much but I thought I would ask. If I am looking to trademark several different slogans under my brand name will that be a problem?
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Thank you Quincy. I figured as much but I thought I would ask. If I am looking to trademark several different slogans under my brand name will that be a problem?
Again, you can only trademark something that is truly distinctive.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Thank you Quincy. I figured as much but I thought I would ask. If I am looking to trademark several different slogans under my brand name will that be a problem?
It is often best to have a single trademark that identifies your goods (or services). The more distinctive the mark, the easier it will be for consumers to identify your goods from those of all others. Using generic words that anyone can use is probably not the best way to go.

Under a single trademark, you can have a line of tee-shirts that will carry your "label" or trademark but the tee-shirts can all have different designs and phrases. The fact that the tee-shirts carry your trademark will help to protect them from infringers.

I think you may wish to explore totally unique words or phrases as an identifier for your tee-shirt business, perhaps looking to literary works that are in the public domain for inspiration. In fact, quotes taken from public domain works could make for an interesting line of tee-shirts.

An example only: Taking from Henry Fielding's "Tom Jones," you could have a line of "Fielding" tee-shirts with phrases from the public domain novel.

The key to a successful business is often the uniqueness of the business - something that sets itself apart from all others, with your business being the only source for the goods that are marketed.


edit to add: LdiJ, a trademark does not have to be distinctive to identify goods or services. In fact, some trademarks are rather boring descriptions of the product or service they market (ie, Shake 'n Bake, Arizona Iced Tea).
 
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LdiJ

Senior Member
It is often best to have a single trademark that identifies your goods (or services). The more distinctive the mark, the easier it will be for consumers to identify your goods from those of all others. Using generic words that anyone can use is probably not the best way to go.

Under a single trademark, you can have a line of tee-shirts that will carry your "label" or trademark but the tee-shirts can all have different designs and phrases. The fact that the tee-shirts carry your trademark will help to protect them from infringers.

I think you may wish to explore totally unique words or phrases as an identifier for your tee-shirt business, perhaps looking to literary works that are in the public domain for inspiration. In fact, quotes taken from public domain works could make for an interesting line of tee-shirts.

An example only: Taking from Henry Fielding's "Tom Jones" you could have a line of "Fielding" tee-shirts with phrases from the public domain novel.

The key to a successful business is often the uniqueness of the business - something that sets itself apart from all others and what is the only source for the goods that are marketed.


edit to add: LdiJ, a trademark does not have to be distinctive to identify goods or services. In fact, some trademarks are rather boring descriptions of the product or service they market (ie, Shake 'n Bake).
Shake 'n Bake however IS distinctive. What makes it distinctive is the 'n vs and.

He wants to trademark "I am the greatest". I suspect that other slogans that he wants to trademark are similar in scope. He is going to have a hard time trademarking something similar to that.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Shake 'n Bake however IS distinctive. What makes it distinctive is the 'n vs and.

He wants to trademark "I am the greatest". I suspect that other slogans that he wants to trademark are similar in scope. He is going to have a hard time trademarking something similar to that.
No. It is really just a description of how the product works. What makes it protectable is the fact that consumers now connect the name with the product.

It can take time for a weak mark (that describes the geographic location or what the product is or does, or a mark that uses a surname) to gain trademark protection.

I agree with you, however, that Basikboy would be smart to look for inspiration from somewhere other than other tee-shirts being marketed. Generic words and phrases rarely make for a good trademark. :)
 

Basikboy

Member
Okay, I am not sure then how my competitors are able to trademark multiple slogans under one business name then. For Instance there is a seller I was made aware of from a business friend that trademarked "I'm sorry for what I said when I was hungry" under the same last name as another trademark "Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal". If you notice in the specimen of the "Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal" the hangtag of the shirt has an "IceCreamTees" logo and on the application for the "I'm sorry for what I said when I was hungry" trademark the email used is [email protected]. Another is Dentz Design Screen Printing who trademarked "****ter's Full", "MEOW UNIVERSKITTY", "SANTA'S MY HOMIE" and who know how many others. I am trying to run my business by the book so I myself would not try to manipulate the system if thats what these owners are doing.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Okay, I am not sure then how my competitors are able to trademark multiple slogans under one business name then. For Instance there is a seller I was made aware of from a business friend that trademarked "I'm sorry for what I said when I was hungry" under the same last name as another trademark "Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal". If you notice in the specimen of the "Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal" the hangtag of the shirt has an "IceCreamTees" logo and on the application for the "I'm sorry for what I said when I was hungry" trademark the email used is [email protected]. Another is Dentz Design Screen Printing who trademarked "****ter's Full", "MEOW UNIVERSKITTY", "SANTA'S MY HOMIE" and who know how many others. I am trying to run my business by the book so I myself would not try to manipulate the system if thats what these owners are doing.
It is not manipulation of the system. These other businesses are simply marketing their goods and obtaining protection for their marketed goods under their trademarks.

In your examples, "Dentz Design Screen Printing" is the trademark under which the owner is marketing his "Meow Universkitty" and other tee-shirts, and "IceCream Tees" is the trademark under which "Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal" and other tee-shirts are being marketed. There is nothing at all wrong with this, even if these other businesses decide to additionally protect the phrases or the designs on their shirts.

What your business appears to need, though, is some creative juices to separate it from the others in the same business. You might benefit from a business "mentor" - someone to guide you in making smart business decisions. Here is a government link that you may (or may not ;)) find helpful: http://www.sba.gov/content/find-business-mentor

Good luck, Basikboy. :)
 

Basikboy

Member
Quincy, all I want to do IS trademark my companies slogans like these others have done. What I am gathering from the forums here is that unless someone sees the slogans and can identify it with my company name it won't work. The slogans that I mentioned of which other companies have secured a trademark for are slogans that are used by many other T-Shirt companies a ton. I can almost guarantee that even though they have the trademarks now they were indeed not the first to use the slogans on shirts in fact they may not have been the 7th or 12th for that matter they just happened to trademark those slogans before anyone else. Also, the "Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal" was made popular in the movie "Home Alone" and "****ter's Full" is from the movie National Lampoon's "Christmas Vacation.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Quincy, all I want to do IS trademark my companies slogans like these others have done. What I am gathering from the forums here is that unless someone sees the slogans and can identify it with my company name it won't work. The slogans that I mentioned of which other companies have secured a trademark for are slogans that are used by many other T-Shirt companies a ton. I can almost guarantee that even though they have the trademarks now they were indeed not the first to use the slogans on shirts in fact they may not have been the 7th or 12th for that matter they just happened to trademark those slogans before anyone else. Also, the "Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal" was made popular in the movie "Home Alone" and "****ter's Full" is from the movie National Lampoon's "Christmas Vacation.
A lot of phrases used on tee-shirts will be taken from movies - and that can be okay if the holders of the rights in the movies have not developed their own product line and are not marketing their own goods using those phrases (which is often the case - think of the Disney line of products connected to Disney movies). It is the same as taking short phrases from books and using them. The only problem can be if a current rights holder objects to the use and decides to assert whatever rights they think they have.

All a trademark does, Basikboy, is to identify a business or product or service. Nothing more. As soon as you start marketing goods or services in commerce under a name, you have a trademark. How protectable the trademark is will often depend on the name that is chosen as the identifier.

In order to federally register a mark and have it placed on the Principal Register, the mark must start off as a distinctive and original identifier of a business, a product or service (like "Kodak" and "Adidas" and "Microsoft") OR it must gain recognition as the identifier of a business, product or service over time, when consumers start to connect in their minds the trademark with a particular business, product or service (like "McDonald's" and "Kentucky Fried Chicken" and "Speedy Printing").

It is possible you have rights in your works, as justalayman mentioned in your other thread, but you need to enforce these rights if you wish to keep them. You can file DMCA takedown notices if you find your original and creative artwork is being used by others, or you can send cease and desist letters if you find the phrases with designs on your tee-shirts that you started marketing first are being used by others.

Again, being original and creative with your trademark (your business identifier) and with your products (your tee-shirt designs and phrases) can go a long way to ensuring you are not sent cease and desist letters. You, instead, can be the one sending them to others when you assert your rights.
 
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