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> According to the legal counsel at my company, trademark restrictions
> require that every appearence of our trademarked software's name be
> used as an adjective--an adjective that modifies what the trademark
was
> intended to identify.
>
> For example, saying "SoftwareNameTM provides cool functionality"
> doesn't fly. I must always say "The SoftwareNameTM software provides
> cool functionality."
>
> This isn't something that I've seen in documentation or marketing for
> other software. Is it familiar to other writers out there who work
> with trademarked products?
James:
The proper usage of a trademark is as an adjective. Most attorneys
emphasize the point by saying that a trademark can't be made plural or
possessive.
The reason is simple: Use as an adjective prevents the trademark from
being generically used as a common noun or verb. "Take two Aspirin pain
relief tablets" vs "take two aspirins", "copy this document on a Xerox
brand copying machine" vs "xerox this document", "my iPod personal music
player's memory is full" vs "my iPod's memory is full", etc.
Your IP attorney should definitely be telling people OUTSIDE your
company to use your trademarks as adjectives, because making that effort
-- even if it's not successful -- goes a long way toward proving that
you intend to retain the trademark... But even in a cease-and-desist
letter, I don't see why he'd require more than what, for example, Apple
Computer does:
For all publications, include an appropriate generic term after
the trademark the first time it appears. Thereafter, the generic
term should appear frequently with the trademark.
( http://www.apple.com/legal/trademark/appletmlist.html )
You've got to do what he says, of course, but maybe you can convince him
to modify his unrealistic "every appearance" rule by showing him
examples -- they're EVERYWHERE -- of companies with presumably-competent
legal departments who nevertheless use their own trademarks as nouns:
Apple:
"If it's on iTunes, it's on your widescreen TV."
"Your music says a lot about you. So should your iPod nano."
Adobe:
"Download Adobe Reader and Flash Player."
Toyota:
"Build and price your Toyota."
Xerox, of all people:
"More printers use FreeFlow than any other workflow product
in the industry."
and Coca-Cola:
"Have a coke and a smile."
It's worth noting, though, that although many companies use their
trademarks as nouns, it's extremely rare for a clued-in company to make
one of its trademarks plural or possessive; that's a rule that really
doesn't get broken, except sometimes when the trademark in question is
the company's name (as in the first sentence on Apple Computer's
Trademark List: "The following is a list of Apple's trademarks and
service marks").
-Andrew
=== Andrew Warren - awarren -at- synaptics -dot- com
=== Synaptics, Inc - Santa Clara, CA
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