Can I trademark a slogan or phrase?

Can I trademark a slogan or phrase?

Yes, of course! Some of the most famous trademarks are slogans or phrases.

In general, you can register a trademark for anything that distinguishes your goods and services from other people’s goods and services. Once such trademark is a slogan or a phrase.

What are some examples of slogan trademarks or phrase trademarks?

JUST DO IT is Nike’s slogan trademark for athletic shoes and athletic clothing.

THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH is Disney’s slogan for their theme park services.

BECAUSE YOU’RE WORTH IT is L’Oréal’s slogan for cosmetics and skin care products

SNAP CRACKLE POP is Kellogg cereals’ slogan for their Rice Krispies cereal.

I’M LOVIN’ IT is McDonalds’ slogan for their restaurant services

PICK ENTERPRISE. WE’LL PICK YOU UP is Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s slogan for their car rental services.

I could go on, but you get the picture.

Slogans make great trademarks for your goods and services. They often tell a story or highlight features of the company’s goods are services. For example, Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s slogan tells the consumer, “If you rent a car from us, we’ll make it convenient for you by coming out to pick you up so that you don’t have to experience the inconvenience of making your own way to one of our rental facilities.” That whole concept is contained in the catchier, punchier phrase, “Pick Enterprise, We’ll pick you up.” The slogan is the way that Enterprise Rent-A-Car highlights a key feature of getting a rental car from them rather than their competitors: If you pick Enterprise, Enterprise will pick you up.

The fact that Enterprise has registered a trademark for that slogan means that a competitor can’t use that phrase or anything “confusingly similar” to describe a similar service. So a competitor might be able to say, “Wow, that’s a good idea, maybe we should start doing that” but they won’t be able to say, “Pick [car rental company name here], we’ll pick you up.”

Slogans might also make certain assurances to a customer or client that aren’t related to a particular feature offered by the company using the slogan, but rather how the customer will feel when they buy the product or use the service.

For example, Disney’s HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH trademark assures the customer that if the customer comes to a Disney theme park, they will experience happiness. The customer of course wants to be happy while on vacation, so this is a good promise to make to a prospective buyer of the services. Other theme parks may make you happy, but a Disney park is “the happiest place on earth,” and no other theme parks can match this superlative, nor can they use the trademark, because it’s the property of Disney Company.

You get the idea… So yes, slogans and phrases make excellent trademarks, and can become valuable source identifiers for your goods and services. Registering a trademark for these slogans for your goods and services assures you that those catchy slogans that you use on your goods and services remain exclusively yours, and that your competition will have to come up with their own phrases and slogans.

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Book a consultation with attorney Angela Langlotz to discuss a trademark issue. Talk with her for 15 minutes and discover if a trademark is right for you. https://talk.trademarkdoctor.net/15

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