Page 10 - Dallas Vol 5 No 2

PROTECT
YOUR CLIENT’S
Luckyyou!You have a great cli- ent: she has a thriving business built on an innovative product or service delivery model, she’s shown exceptional nancial and business acumen, she is a natural at market- ing and she values and heeds your advice (OK, we admit this is a hypothetical). In addition, your client is building her expanding business around a brand that is clever, unique and distinctive. In- deed, the U.S. Patent and Trademark O ce already agrees, and has issued a federal reg- istration on its Principal Register for that
brand.
While a memorable and regis-
tered mark is a valuable IP asset for your client, it is critical that certain steps are taken to properly main- tain that mark and strengthen its e ectiveness and enforceabil- ity over time. Accordingly, here are some trademark usage rules that should be followed by your client to maximize the
value of that mark.
TREAT THE MARK AS SPECIAL – BECAUSE IT IS!
Make sure your client’s brand stands out when used in a textual context. To do so, display the mark in all capital letters, bolder-faced type, ital- ics, within double quotation marks, in a stylized or graphic form, or even in a di erent color from the surrounding text. Emphasize the mark. Make each reference to the brand a memorable one and pres- ent the brand in a consistently special manner.
GO BACK TO SCHOOL
– FROM
A long time ago, in a classroom far, far away, you learned some basic rules of grammar including the di erence between a noun, a verb and a proper ad- jective. Now, you can put that knowledge to use. Here’s the deal: a trademark is a proper adjective. It is not a noun. It is not a verb. Not now; not ever.
A good use example (adjective): “You don’t need to be a yogi to rock a pair of LULULEMON yoga pants!” A bad use example (noun): “Don’t be the only one in the studio without your LULULE- MONs!”
YOUR CLIENT!
Whenever possible, a trademark (the proper ad- jective) should always be followed by the common name of its associate product or service (the noun). Now do you remember? at’s what adjectives do – adjectives modify nouns. In this case (the “good” example), the trademark is used as an adjective to tell the reader what speci c brand of yoga pants are being referenced.
BY Z. PETER SAWICKI AND JAMES L. YOUNG
ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · DALLAS· VOL. 5 NO. 2 10