Sarah Palin® Seeks to Trademark® Her Name®
Gosh, if I'm gonna keep writing satirical essays about idiots, dumbasses, knuckleheads and morons, I'd better find out where the ® key is on this thing.
Sarah Palin wants to trademark her name! Not just hers, either. Bristol's, too!
Palin is more than just a former mayor, governor, vice presidential candidate and political force. She has catapulted over most politicians to a status of entertainment icon. She has become a brand — and she's trying to protect it by trademarking her name.
According to patent office application (serial # 85170226), Van Flein registered for a trademark of "Sarah Palin" on Nov. 5, 2010 — three days after the midterm elections. The government trademark examining attorney has "found no conflicting marks that would bar registration." In other words, nobody else had already taken the proposed trademark.
A "Bristol Palin" application (serial #85130638) was filed on Sept. 15, 2010. Bristol Palin's stint with "Dancing With the Stars" premiered on Sept. 20.
According to Karen Bush, examining attorney at the U.S. Patent Office, the application is not without problems. For one thing, it seems Caribou Barbie® forgot to sign her name® to the application. And that's not all.
When someone applies for a trademark, the patent office wants an example of how his or her name has been used for a commercial purpose. Examples include "signs, photographs, brochures, website printouts or advertisements" that show the proposed trademark "used in the actual sale or advertising of the services." The samples submitted with Sarah's form were a copy of a Fox News Channel webpage dated Jan. 11, 2010 featuring a story with the headline "Palin to Join Fox News as Contributor," and a PDF file of a screen shot from the Washington Speakers Bureau website containing the former Alaska governor's biography plus another screen shot of her Facebook profile.
Bush, the examining attorney, wrote that the examples were insufficient and did not show any commercial use connected to political elections. Palin was asked to send another example.And she's not alone in her difficulties.
Bristol Palin's application has similar problems as her mother's. It wasn't signed and didn't show her proposed trademark used in a commercial context. She must file examples that demonstrate how "Bristol Palin" is used in the actual sale or advertising of her "motivational speaking services in the field of life choices," according to Bush's letter to Van Flein. Continued on the next pagePage 1 2
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