It’s awards season!
This Sunday, we’ll be watching all the fashion and drama of the 95th Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars.
As we sit down to watch the action on the red carpet, we might just be thinking about trademarks, as Women Talking. We can’t help it; it’s an occupational hazard. (First, a word about that red carpet. It is a closely-guarded proprietary shade called Academy Red, reportedly designed to flatter the A-listers walking on it. However, it doesn’t appear that the Academy has registered the color as a trademark.)
The nominee for Longest Trademark Guidelines…
If you think the televised coverage of the awards ceremony is long, you should see the Academy’s trademark usage guidelines. As noted in the guidelines – called “Regulations” on the Academy website – OSCARS, the design of the statuette, and other marks are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Regulations say the Academy marks, “may not be used except in accordance with these regulations or under a special written license from the Academy.”
Although the preamble to the Regulations states that the guidelines are to “set a code of fair practice for all forms of advertising pertaining to the annual Academy Awards presentation,” it seems the Academy wants to be Everything Everywhere All at Once in its own exclusive use of the marks. But remember that trademark owners need to enforce against unauthorized uses of their marks to maintain their rights, and stay All Quiet on the Western Front.
Although the Academy’s guidelines might not seem to differentiate between a passing factual reference to the Oscars and a commercial entity making a misleading reference to the awards, trademark law is not so black-and-white. For commercial uses, a company’s posted trademark guidelines can indicate what the organization will or won’t tolerate…in other words, how a Maverick trademark reference can avoid a cease-and-desist letter and a Triangle of Sadness.
The nominee for Most Active Trademark Enforcer…
The Academy doesn’t have the market cornered on trademark usage guidelines. For example, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (“NATAS”) and Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (“Television Academy”) – joint owners of the EMMY trademark – have similar guidelines on their respective websites. In fact, the NATAS and the Television Academy are currently the most active in keeping the federal trademark registry clear. In the past few years, they have filed a number of trademark oppositions against applications including EMMY’S ORGANICS for food and retail services, EMMY+OLLY for stationery and fabric goods, and more.
Every brand owner, whether it’s in the business of awards shows or widgets, must decide where it draws the line, and cannot simply follow the Way of the Water. It’s a delicate balance between enforcement and public relations. When they win the award for striking that balance, we hope they’ll remember their trademark lawyers in the acceptance speech.