copyright question

[russian rocket]

I have what I think is a really good slogan type thing for a very well known brand of childerens medicine.

Can I copyright it, it uses the brandname only 3 words long :-

[word] [word] [brandname]

[KB_S1]

Is it your brand?
IPR can be tricky. If you were to make a hard copy of your expression of this slogan it would, technically be yours.
However if you are using another parties copyrighted brand name then you will never be allowed to use it for profit.

I would imagine that you could offer it to them but with the protection that they cannot use it without your permission.

[RichBurley]

You can copyright an expression of something, not the thing itself.

You can't have copyright in simply "words". You don't own the english language. Years of marketing and millions of pounds enables Coca Cola to "Trademark" "Coke is it" and "The Real Thing". But you all know those slogans relate to "Coke". Same goes for Nike. I say Nike, you think "Just Do It", or the "Swoosh" sign. Trademarking costs money and requires proof that the public understand that particular wording.

You personally could not Trademark words on behalf of the company. So it's just one of these things. You could contact the company. But penny to a pound they don't evcen reply to your letter...

[mandat]

Out of interest, what's the slogan?

I promise that I'll keep it secret and not tell anyone else.

[justinp1]

russian rocket said:

I have what I think is a really good slogan type thing for a very well known brand of childerens medicine.

Can I copyright it, it uses the brandname only 3 words long :-

[word] [word] [brandname]

Nope.

In fact, if you use it there is more chance they can sue you as in fact their brandname which will no doubt be already registered.

Seriously though if that were the case then someone could register thousands or millions of combinations of words as trademarks with no intention of using them in the hope of 'striking it rich' when someone would want to use it.

To have 'ownership' of a trademark you simply have to use it. However, if there becomes another company which springs up with a similar name then it is a complicated legal situation to investigate the rights issues.

The other option is to officially register the trademark for £200, and then the infringement is more easier to legally protect. However, again you have to be actually using it, and it must be accepted as be separate from other registered marks, which of course in this case it would be not.

A recent version of this was during the 'dotcom' boom, speculators would register the names of potential websites of companies so that when they wanted a website they could in effect 'name their price' to sell the site. Although originally sums of money changed hands, things have no wmoved on to where although a registered company does not automatically have ownership of theirname.com, if it can be shown that another party has registered such a site with no intention to use it other than to park it and resell it to the company then the actual registration to the third party has been cancelled as it is deemed that the IP was with the original company.

Hope this helps.

If you want a more positive way forward I would suggest contacting their marketing department directly about it. If they like it they may give you a kickback for using it!

[davidra]

Agree with justin, you can't use their trademark as part of your slogan. But a rich and funky company might give you a lump sum for thinking of it. And if they're willing to allow you credit for it, it'd be a good thing to put on your CV.

dave

[skwdenyer]

justinp1 said:

Seriously though if that were the case then someone could register thousands or millions of combinations of words as trademarks with no intention of using them

Err, this is precisely what many companies do with dormant brands, for instance BMW's "ownership" of all of the ex-BL (etc.) brands such as Riley.

Trademark law is conceptaully simple in this regard - use it (in the last five years) or lose it (if anyone lodges a case for revocation). However large companies routinely flout the rules. As a specific example, BMW is registering the same trademarks multiple times, five years apart, in an apparent attempt to frustrate attempts at revocation, and never mind the actual rules!

The barrier is mainly money - £200 a time + lawyer fees for each trademark application puts off most speculators, whereas domain names are (for bulk buyers) available for minimal sums.