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HTML Writers Guild Trademarks and Copyrights Frequently Asked Questions
Send comments to Matthew C. Miller
This FAQ is taken from material written by Rick Reigle of The Quest Business Agency
for a Fortune 500 company. Thanks to Rick for allowing us to use his material.
- What is the correct way to use trademarks?
- How do I identify a trademark?
- What is the correct symbol usage?
- How do I use trademarks grammatically?
- Are all these distinctions really necessary?
- How do I use copyrights correctly?
- How do I protect our copyright?
- What is the correct copyright notification?
- Where do I place copyright notices?
- What do I do when I'm in doubt?
- For More Information
A trademark can be defined as a word, a symbol, a slogan, a
distinctive sound, a design, or a word/design combination that
identifies and distinguishes the goods or services of one company from
those of another. If used to identify a service, it is a service mark.
If you use a trademarked name, you must protect it by placing one of
these symbols ® TM SM
next to the first or most prominent use of
the name. While these symbols need not be used on subsequent uses of
the names in a document, treating the names distinctively (bolding,
italicizing, using all capital letters or initial capital letters) is
highly desirable, because it communicates to the reader that we
consider these names unique.
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If the trademark is registered with the U.S. Patent Office, use the
® symbol. If the trademark or service mark is not registered, use
the TM
symbol for a product or the SM
symbol for a service. The
® symbol is ® in HTML markup. There is currently no
standard for TM or
SM. The most universal way is to mark them up
as smaller, superscripted text:
<SMALL><SUP>TM</SUP></SMALL>
This will display properly in any browser that has implemented HTML
3.0beta or HTML3.2. It will just display as TM in any other browser.
One other option is to use ™ which is being supported on
some browsers but isn't yet a standard. (If you're wondering whether
it is on yours, here it is: ™.)
Do not use the ® symbol for an unregistered trademark.
If you have created a new product name, use the TM
symbol until it
can be registered with the U.S. Patent Office. Any new product name
must specifically identify the product or service. Unique spellings,
while not required, help ensure that specific identify. (e.g.
Tru-Flite arrows, Brite-Lite bulbs)
A trademark or service mark is always an adjective - never a noun or a
verb - and always begins with a capital letter. Trademarks are proper
adjectives, since they identify the specific source of the trademarked
products or services. In the following example, Tru-Flite
is properly used when it acts as an adjective modifying the noun
arrows and is improperly used when it acts as a noun:
Proper: Tru-Flite arrows always hit the target.
Improper: Tru-Flite always hits the target.
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While these distinctions may sound like insignificant details,
consider the plight of Otis Elevator Company. Years ago, that company
produced an advertisement with a similar error in the copy, certainly
a detail nobody deemed momentous at the time. However, that one
sentence in that one ad helped Otis lose its trademark: Escalator. So
now any manufacturer of moving staircases can call their products
escalators. You'll want to avoid making this costly mistake with your
trademarks, so if in doubt, err on the side of over-protection.
A copyright, or right to copy, is a form of protection granted by the
laws of the United States and other countries to the authors of
original works. This protection allows the original author to
control the later use of both published and unpublished materials.
This protection covers literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works.
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The specific protections granted to you when you correctly copyright your
written materials and software include:
- Complete control over any reproduction, including photocopying of
written materials and copying of software;
- Control over the preparation of any derivative works based on
copyrighted work;
- Control over the right to distribute copies of the copyrighted work
to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental,
lease or lending;
- Control over the right to display copyrighted work publicly,
including the individual images of a motion picture or other
audio/visual work;
Your work is valuable and that value is only
protected from infringement by others if it is properly copyrighted.
So, whether you are writing a tech unit, a technical paper, a sales
brochure, a trade show graphic, or a company newsletter, always
protect that work by copyrighting it.
A proper copyright notice consists of the following elements:
- The © symbol (© in HTML code)
- The first year of publication
- The name of the company originating the work
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In most instances, the copyright notice should appear on the last page
of multi-page documents, or at the bottom of single-page documents.
Here are some specifics:
- Brochures and sales literature
- At the bottom of the back cover or the back page
- Ads and posters
- at the bottom of the page, usually below the logo and address
- Company and customer newsletters
- with the editorial staff information
- Tech units
- On the first page of each tech unit
Should you find yourself in doubt copyright it!
URL:/faqs/copyrFAQ.html
Copyright 1995, 1996 by The HTML Writers Guild.
Please see our legal statement.
FAQ Written by Rick Reigle (quest(at)nol.com).
FAQ maintained by Matthew C. Miller (m(at)usa.net).
Last Updated October 1996