In Search of Trademarks (and Hippos)

In the light of the current kerfuffle about trademarks, registered or otherwise, you might want to get to the root of it all, rather than reading endless blather on blogs like this.

Fortunately, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has a cracking good website, where you can rummage through trademark applications to your heart's content. Find out what's in and what's out; amaze your friends!

For example, you might want to check out Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS), accessible through this page - or even better, this page. Go for the "Freeform Search" option, and when prompted, enter "Linden Research" (using the double-quotes) and hit RETURN.

You will get a nice, longish list of what TMs have been applied for, and which of those are actually registered. Click on the Serial Numbers for more details, and within the detail page, click on "TARR Status" to get all the info you might want. As you do this, you will notice that the word "SECOND" is apparently up for TMing! According to serial number 77198336, the mark "SECOND" "consists of standard characters, without claim to any particular font, style, size, or color."

Other words that might grab your attention include: "HIPPOS"; "GRID" and "SL GRID". Oddly, although "LINDEN LAB" is there, "LL" isn't. I daresay a Patents and Trademarks lawyer can explain that one to me.

Enjoy yourselves...