TRADEMARK USAGE GUIDELINES
NOTICE:
In order to give public notice of intellectual property claims, use these symbols:
TM or SM for unregistered trademarks or service marks (those marks you have not yet filed with the USPTO)
® or Registered Trademark of FUNNEL SCIENCE, LLC. to show that a mark is federally registered in the U.S. (Other countries have similar requirements—contact counsel for specifics)
© for works subject to copyright protection. You do not have to have a copyright registration to use the encircled C.
- Notices are not mandatory, but failing to give notice or doing it improperly can impact whether an infringer is liable for increased damages and attorney fees.
- The best practice is to use the trademark symbols every time a trademark is used. However, at a minimum the trademark symbols should be used both in the title and with the first use in the body of the text.
- Each authorized use of a mark in any material such as marketing material, advertising, brochures and web pages should contain an ownership statement similar to the following:
FUNNEL SCIENCE® is a U.S. registered trademark of FUNNEL SCIENCE, LLC.
AVOIDING GENERICNESS
Trademarks can become generic if the public comes to understand the trademark to be the name of the product itself as opposed to identifying an exclusive source of the product.
- Use the generic name of the goods or services with the trademark on your promotional materials (FUNNEL SCIENCE software or FUNNEL SCIENCE consumer statistical analysis);
- Give proper notice of a registered trademark to consumers by using either: “Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office” or “Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.” or the letter R enclosed within a circle, ®.
- Distinguish the trademark from surrounding text by capitalizing the trademark, using a distinctive typeface, or at the very least, capitalizing the first letter of the trademark;
- Use the trademark as an adjective (FUNNEL SCIENCE analysis );
- Do not use the trademark as a noun (FUNNEL SCIENCE);
- Do not use the trademark in the plural (incorrect: use 2 FUNNEL SCIENCES; correct: use FUNNEL SCIENCE consumer analyses);
- Don’t use the trademark as a verb (incorrect – FUNNEL SCIENCE the sales; correct –analyze sales with FUNNEL SCIENCE software or FUNNEL SCIENCE methodology);
- Don’t abbreviate the trademark or alter it in any way (use FUNNEL SCIENCE not FUNSCI or FUNNEL SCI);
- Make it a practice to object to others’ misuse of the trademark—stadium personnel, anchors and commentators, newspapers, Wikipedia, YouTube, blogs;
- Educate others (e.g. distributors, dealers, and consumers) to ensure proper usage of the trademark.
- If your trademark is at risk of being considered a generic term for a particular type of product, consider using FUNNEL SCIENCE mark for a different product (e.g. video games) and tout the fact that the mark is a brand for a line of products
Examples:
- Xerox Corp.’s “You can’t Xerox a Xerox on a Xerox. But we don’t mind at all if you copy a copy on a Xerox® copier.”
- Chrysler LLC’s “They invented “SUV” because they can’t call them Jeep®.”
- Johnson & Johnson Corp.’s “I am stuck on Band-Aids brand cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me.”
- Kimberly-Clark Corp.’s “ ‘Kleenex’ is a brand name…and should always be followed by an ® and the word ‘Tissue.’ [Kleenex® Brand Tissue] Help us keep our identity, ours.”
Velcro’s YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP-fZdFfOGE
Questions:
Any questions regarding these Guidelines or appropriate use of FUNNEL SCIENCE trademarks and logos should be directed to: Alex Fender via email at Alex@funnelscience.com
