trademark v

[Victor Steinbok]

The OED has a very brief description of "trademark" as a verb, with no
examples:

> ˈtrade-ˌmark v. (/trans./) to affix or imprint a trade-mark upon.

This seems a bit narrow, unless "affix" is treated quite generously. In
fact, current usage suggests that "to trademark" means to either apply
for trademark registration and protection or to make something famous
and exclusive (the latter in a somewhat transformative sense). An easy
search for the former includes "going to trademark" string, which
produces 70800 raw ghits.

http://goo.gl/b5R6M
> We were also curious if it's even kosher to trademark a number:
> ...
> [Comments]
> The ability to trademark a number seems dumb. I'm going to trademark
> the number 2, so there can't be any sequels anymore. Bethesda did it
> for Scrolls well enough.

http://goo.gl/qfLxA
> Is Disney really going to trademark "SEAL Team 6"?
> ...
> In a perfect example of a big media company looking to capitalize on
> current events, the Walt Disney Company has trademarked Seal Team 6,
> which happens to be the name of the elite special forces team that
> killed Osama bin Laden.

http://goo.gl/0WR06
> Disney Trademarks "Seal Team 6"
> By Alex Weprin on May 13, 2011 4:25 PM
>
> In a textbook example of how big media company look to capitalize on
> current events, The Walt Disney Company has trademarked "Seal Team 6,"
> which also happens to be the name of the elite special forces team
> that killed Osama Bin Laden.
>
> The trademark applications came on May 3rd, two days after the
> operation that killed Bin Laden... and two days after "Seal Team 6"
> was included in thousands of news articles and TV programs focusing on
> the operation.

http://goo.gl/UI8nR
> Citing the potential of “Occupy Wall Street” to become a “global
> brand,” a Long Island couple has filed to trademark the name of the
> amorphous organization responsible for the protests and encampments in
> lower Manhattan and other U.S. cities, The Smoking Gun has learned.

[deleted question on Yahoo! Answers]
> If im going to trademark a clothing line name, should i add 'clothing
> company' in the trademark ? or just the brand name?

VS-)

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