"A dog is for life, not just for Christmas"
Wise words indeed, but also protected words! The Dogs Trust has
registered the above as a trade mark.
Slogans can be massively important to your business and if you
use one then all three of the wise men would tell you to get it
protected! (That is the last of the rubbish Christmas references…
promise)
Can every slogan be registered as a trade mark?
No (but you knew that!). You can register a slogan as a trade
mark as long as it distinguishes your goods or services
from those of your competitors. In other words, your
slogan needs to do something more than merely describe your goods
or services.
So, if you sell green carpets and your slogan is "We sell green
carpets", then you are no doubt ridiculously good at selling green
carpets, but the slogan would be too descriptive and therefore not
registerable as a trade mark.
Your slogan also needs to have its own distinctive character.
Distinctiveness can be hard to show, but things which can help to
increase distinctiveness are:
- slogans which have a number of meanings;
- a play-on words;
- slogans which contain unusual or incorrect grammar; or
- slogans which include made up words.
For example, our slogan is: "ACUMEN BUSINESS
LAW -you'll be glad we are on your side!"… and you will,
honest!