Advertising slogans are a powerful way of conveying messages. Who isn’t familiar with THE BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS, GOOD TO THE LAST DROP, or FLY THE FRIENDLY SKIES? Companies spend vast sums to promote their slogans, hoping they will become famous and instantly bring to mind the companies’ goods and services. A successfully promoted slogan will often be associated in the public mind with a single source for the goods or services—in that way functioning as a trademark.
Slogans are protectable as trademarks. The Trademark Act defines a trademark as including “any word, name, symbol, or device” that is used by a person “to identify and distinguish his or her goods … from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source of the goods. …” Many famous slogans have been registered as trademarks in the Patent and Trademark Office, including the three mentioned above. However, slogan marks can present unique issues in trademark law.
