Can someone trademark a combination of three letters?

**Manic** · 04-07-2003, 11:08 PM

Can someone trademark a combination of only three letters?

For example, can someone place a trademark on "ABC" or "XYZ"...?

...Or can some be trademarked and others not?

Are there some combinations that would recieve more protection than others?

Thanks in advance for any advice or info!

**Banned: timechange.com** · 04-07-2003, 11:47 PM

IBM - the Big Blue

**Manic** · 04-08-2003, 12:04 AM

I guess it depends a lot on the history of the name/acronym...?

**RON2** · 04-08-2003, 12:51 AM

Sure, of course you can trademark a three letter combination. There are many three letter trademarks registered. IBM, UPS, ING, etc.

Here are the guidelines
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmep/1200.htm

**Manic** · 04-08-2003, 01:35 AM

Thanks!

**draqon** · 04-08-2003, 04:28 AM

you can even trademark two letter combinations. For example, the letters TM are actually trademarked by the Transcendental Meditation movement, the same religious group that the Beatles belonged to in the 1960's for a while. Which brings up an interesting point, since the letters TM are themselves trademarked, is it legally ethical to use TM as a symbol to represent trademarks? Not that i actually care about the answer, i just feel like raising the question.

**jberryhill** · 04-08-2003, 09:16 AM

Trademarks are not monopolies in all uses of a string of letters or a symbol.

On a bottle of ale, a red triangle means one and only one thing. Can you use red triangles for other things? Sure you can. But if you put it on ale, you are going to hear from the folks at Bass.

"I guess it depends a lot on the history of the name/acronym...?"

That is exactly the point with any trademark. Trademark rights don't accrue by simply claiming them, like Columbus landing in the Indies. When a word, string of letters, symbol, or whatever, becomes associated in the minds of consumers as an indicator of source or origin (even if unknown) of the goods or services on which the mark is used, then it is a trademark.

Trademarks can be three letters, like AT&T, IBM, NCR; two letters, like VW; or even a single letter, such as Oprah Winfrey's magazine, O.