December 13th, 2004
Exclusive: I visit the Trademark Office and get the scoop on how AT&T will market VoIP
Last week, I treated you to a review and analysis of recently published U.S. Patent applications.
After my third cup of morning coffee (hey, I’m from Portland, a confirmed coffee capital) I got the idea to search the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s trademark database as well.
First, some background. Well before a company releases a product or even introduces a catchy tagline for an ad campaign, they trademark or service markit. That way, it’s theirs.
Getting to the good stuff, but wait.. wait…
The way the Trademark Office works, they publish trademark applications, and then there is a 30-day "Published For Opposition" period. Means what it says, says what it means: if you think that applied-for trademark or service mark impinges on yours, you can file an objection.
OK, yummy. The good stuff.
On December 7, AT&T’s application for a "VOIP Is Everywhere" service mark was published. That sounds very much like a potential advertising tag line.
I’ll be posting additional before-the-market trademark news as it becomes available.
Russell Shaw is an enterprise computing journalist, analyst and author based in Portland, Oregon. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
