The basics of trademarks, service marks, and what they mean for your band

Though trademarks may seem like a cool thing to have, they aren’t very important for your band in the early stages and can be costly. Trademarks can be obtained for any word, name, symbol, device, or combination of these things that are used to identify a product – or in the case of a service mark, a service. To properly secure a trademark, you must register it through the United Sates Patent and Trademark Office . Though the basic definition for trademarks is pretty straight forward, not just anything can be registered.

In order to qualify for registry, a mark must be:
• Coined – you made it up
• Completely fanciful – it doesn’t mean anything
Or
• Arbitrary – it has no other meaning in the English language.

For your band, this would mean that for instance a band like Red Hot Chili Peppers would probably not be able to qualify for registry because red hot chili peppers are a food, not a coined name, neither fanciful nor arbitrary. However, perhaps U2 would qualify as it has no real other meaning. Most band names, in general, probably would not qualify, but you may have a logo or symbol that identifies the band that would – think Prince.

Registration for a trademark can take quite awhile to get approved. You may recall seeing the ® symbol which shows that the mark has been registered. The ™ symbol is used to signify a trademark that has not been registered, but the company wishes to retain the mark. Registration for a mark can be quite costly. As of this writing, basic registration runs around $350. The duration of a trademark is pretty much indefinite, but it has to be in continuous use. If you break up for a five or ten years and want to come back, you may have to check to see if you lost the mark.

Overall, it probably doesn’t make too much sense for a band to waste money on a trademark. Most band names probably wouldn’t qualify anyway. It might be possible that you have come up with a symbol that identifies your band and may want to look further into registering that, however. Furthermore, if you have come up with a unique service that you or your band provides, you may have grounds to register for a service mark.

Image by Flickr.com user Lauri Rantala.