I read a great post by Matthew Stibbe at Bad Language this week that talks about a topic that has always bothered me - trademark symbols. Now, I'm not saying I don't like the legal purpose of trademarks. I'm all for protecting intellectual property. What I don't like is when those trademark symbols get in the way of communicating a clear and concise marketing message.
For over a decade I worked in various marketing roles for large financial companies. Suffice it to say, financial companies love trademarking things. I know many industries are trademark happy, but most of my trademark craziness comes from the world of finance. It seemed like not a word could be uttered without someone saying, "we should trademark that." Even if there was no product, service or tool associated with that word, it didn't matter. Let's trademark it.
That brings me to the reason why I love Matthew's post on Bad Language where he discusses how those trademarks can get in the way of copywriting. I've been in that situation more times than I can count where what should be a simple, effective piece of copy turns into a mess of trademarks and service marks. Luckily, I've never been required to use those ugly symbols every time a trademarked product name is mentioned in copy. I've always been able to get the legal department to approve my using the symbols just the first time the trademarked name is mentioned. I actually prefer it when I can just use a disclaimer that says something like, "All product names are trademarks of XYZ Company," but that rarely flies with the legal team.
All of this brings me to my question. In a world that's flooded with trademarks, does a trademark symbol actually help protect a trademarked image, name or word, etc.? Are trademarks better protected because a symbol accompanies the word or image associated with that trademark in printed materials? Of course, I'm looking at this completely from the copywriter's or designer's perspective to play devil's advocate, but I do wonder if trademark symbols have lost their effectiveness overall. What do you think?
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