chinese firm trademarks “happy birthday”

A Chinese company, has trademarked the phrase “Happy Birthday” for children’s toys.

Surprisingly enough — the phrase “happy birthday” has been registered as a U.S. federal trademark more than 20 times for such items as greeting cards, bakery goods and non-alcoholic beverages.

Remember: any word, phrase or symbol can be a trademark as long as it indicates a single origin or source of goods and services.  While not exactly distinctive, the phrase “happy birthday” could arguably come to indicate a single origin or source for each of the goods listed – but – the scope of protection is probably fairly limited due to the overlapping uses (including non-trademark usage).

For more information on trademarks — download DCR’s trademark primer.

You may be interested in reading the following related posts:

1. Happy Birthday Leo!
2. what is the difference between a patent, a trademark and a copyright?
3. the reason for success — it’s all in the name
4. LEGO My LEGOS – The Significance of “S”
5. Trademarking Corruption

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, October 17, 2004 at 8:22 pm
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