Using Trademarks Grammatically

Properly used, a trademark can be legally protected indefinitely. However, if used improperly, a trademark can become diluted or generic and lose its protected status. Therefore, it is important to use trademarks in their proper grammatical form.

A trademark or service mark should always be used an adjective and never as a noun or a verb. A trademarked name should always begin with a capital letter because trademarks are proper adjectives. Trademarks must identify the specific source of the trademarked products or services.

In the following example, "Kwik-Flite" is properly used when it acts as an adjective modifying the noun "arrows" and is improperly used when it acts as a noun:

Proper: Kwik-Flite arrows always hit the target.

Improper: Kwik-Flite always hits the target.

While these distinctions may seem like insignificant details, it is not impossible for a company name to lose its status as a trademark. Names such as aspirin, zipper and escalator were once trademarks that became generic because their owners did not protect them.

The Otis Elevator Company once published advertisements with improper usage in the ad copy. Today, any manufacturer of moving staircases can call their products "escalators". Be sure to avoid making this costly mistake with your trademarks so your valuable trademarks are not added to the list of trademarks that have become generic.

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