Trademark Information

As some of you know, Punky Moms is now a registered trademark. What exactly does that mean?

Straight from the horses mouth (so to speak):

Trademark Basics

What is a trademark?

A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device (or a combination thereof) that identifies the goods or services of a person or company and distinguishes them from the goods and services of others. A trademark assures consumers of consistent quality with respect to those goods or services and aids in their promotion.

Why is it important to use marks correctly?

Rights to a trademark can last indefinitely if the owner continues to use the mark to identify its goods and services. If trademarks are not used properly, they may be lost and one of the company’s most important assets may lose all of its value. Rights may be lost not only because of a trademark owner’s improper use of the mark, but through improper use of the trademark by the public.

Rules for Proper Usage

Things to do:

• If you are using a Punky Moms trademark, distinguish the trademark from the surrounding text in some way. Capitalize the first letter, capitalize or italicize the entire mark, place the mark in quotes, use a different type style or font for the mark than for the generic name. If you do not capitalize the entire mark, always spell and capitalize the trademark exactly as they are shown in the Punky Moms Trademarks and Suggested Accepted Generic Terms below. Use a generic term following the trademark, for example: Punky Moms community, Punky Moms recipies, Punky Moms forum. Use only Punky Moms-approved artwork when using Punky Moms’s logos. If you are using a Punky Moms logo on a web page, there must exist a minimum spacing of 25 pixels between each side of the logo and other graphic or textual elements on your web page.
• Normally, an unregistered Punky Moms Brand Feature should be followed by the superscripted letters TM or SM to give notice that the company claims trademark rights in the term. A registered Punky Moms Brand Feature should be followed by the symbol ® to identify the term as a registered trademark. In advertising copy, notice of trademark rights may be provided in a footnote format – e.g., by placing an asterisk adjacent to the Punky Moms Brand Feature and placing an appropriate notice at the bottom of the page on which the asterisk appears. Example: *Punky Moms is a trademark of Punky Moms Inc.

Things You Can’t Do

• One of the conditions for all uses is that you can’t mess around with our marks. Only we get to do that. Don’t remove, distort or alter any element of a Punky Moms Brand Feature. That includes modifying a Punky Moms trademark, for example, through hyphenation, combination or abbreviation. Do not shorten, abbreviate, or create acronyms out of Punky Moms trademarks. Don’t display a Punky Moms Brand Feature as the most prominent element on your web page. Don’t display a Punky Moms Brand Feature in any manner that implies a relationship or affiliation with, sponsorship, or endorsement by Punky Moms, or that can be reasonably interpreted to suggest editorial content has been authored by, or represents the views or opinions of Punky Moms or Punky Moms personnel. Don’t display a Punky Moms Brand Feature on any web site that contains or displays adult content, promotes gambling, involves the sale of tobacco or alcohol to persons under twenty-one years of age, or otherwise violates applicable law. Don’t display a Punky Moms Brand Feature in a manner that is in Punky Moms’s sole opinion misleading, unfair, defamatory, infringing, libelous, disparaging, obscene or otherwise objectionable to Punky Moms. Don’t display a Punky Moms Brand Feature on a site that violates any law or regulation. Don’t frame or mirror any Punky Moms page (including the page that appears in response to a click on the Punky Moms logo or Punky Moms search box). Don’t incorporate Punky Moms Brand Features into your own product name, service names, trademarks, logos, or company names. Don’t copy or imitate Punky Moms’s trade dress, including the look and feel of Punky Moms web design properties or Punky Moms brand packaging, distinctive color combinations, typography, graphic designs, product icons, or imagery associated with Punky Moms Don’t adopt marks, logos, slogans, or designs that are confusingly similar to our Brand Features. Don’t register Punky Moms trademarks as second-level domain names. Don’t use Punky Moms trademarks in a way that suggests a common, descriptive, or generic meaning.
• Trademark rights vary from country to country. Some countries have severe criminal and civil penalties for improper use of the registration symbol. Therefore, don’t use the registration symbol (®) in countries where the mark has not been registered.

Do Trademarks, Copyrights and Patents protect the same things?

No. Trademarks, copyrights and patents all differ. A copyright protects an original artistic or literary work; a patent protects an invention. For copyright information, go to http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/. For patent information, go to http://www.uspto.gov/main/patents.htm.

Guidelines for Third Party Use of Punky Moms Brand

Use of Punky Moms Brand Features

General Information

Although we’d like to accommodate all the requests we receive from users who want to add a touch of Punky Moms to their sites and lives, we are passionate about protecting the reputation of our brand. That means we have to turn down many requests because sites imply that Punky Moms is endorsing them or is otherwise affiliated with them. The same applies if Punky Moms’s trademarks, logos, web pages, screen shots, or other distinctive features (“Punky Moms Brand Features” or “Brand Features”) are associated with objectionable material, as determined by Punky Moms.

As a result, we require that you have Punky Moms’s explicit written permission before using any Punky Moms Brand Features. These Brand Features can be used only pursuant to these Guidelines, our Terms and Conditions, and for the specific purposes for which Punky Moms has given permission. If you have a written agreement with Punky Moms that specifically addresses how you may use its Brand Features, you don’t need to go through the approval process here unless you want to do something other than what has been authorized in your existing agreement. Otherwise, the only time you can use Brand Features without advance written permission is if there is clear and express language on our website stating that you can use those Brand Features without first obtaining permission, such as is the case with our search boxes.

When you use any of our Brand Features, you must always follow the Rules for Proper Usage included in these Guidelines. In addition, Punky Moms may provide you with written requirements as to the size, typeface, colors, and other graphic characteristics of the Punky Moms Brand Features. If we provide these requirements to you at the time of our approval, you must implement them before using our Brand Features. If we provide these requirements to you after we initially gave our permission, you must implement them within a commercially reasonable timeframe.