Question

Which items can be trademarked and which cannot in the United States? Please look at the six items in the teaching notes, p.4, and Please justify your reasons in your discussion posting.

1. Infoxx – company name of a technological consultant startup

2. Intel Inside logo and the four-tone sound that accompanies it.

3. Starbox Coffee

4. The purple color of Nexium, a medicine pill that treats acid reflux.

5. The shape of the bottle and the fragrance of the perfume

6. My last name! (if Dell Inc. is a trademark, why not my name?)

Answer 1

1. Infoxx – company name of a technological consultant startup

This is specific entity cannot be Trademark as this is specific count can be used in combination with any other term in different states and does not have any specific type of Trademark availability.

2. Intel Inside logo and the four-tone sound that accompanies it.

This specific entity can be trademarked as it provides distinctive identity to the organisation and it is a critical part of their identity in the respective environment.

3. Starbox Coffee

It cannot be trademarked as it does not provide adequate information about the logo or any specific entity involved in the business.

4. The purple color of Nexium, a medicine pill that treats acid reflux.

Purple colour is a General entity that cannot be trademark as it can be used by many organisations due to its general nature.

5. The shape of the bottle and the fragrance of the perfume

Shape of the bottles cannot be trademarked they can only be patented similar with the fragrance of the perfume as it could be created by any specific next which could be patented rather than being Trademarked.

6. My last name! (if Dell Inc. is a trademark, why not my name?)

Last name cannot be trademarked as they do not post any specific distinctive meaning of any individual.