25 March 2008

Motorola chirp not a trade mark, says TTAB

Eileen McDermott, New York

The USPTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) has ruled that Motorola’s signature two-way radio chirp cannot be registered as a trade mark

The “chirp”, or 911 Hz sound, is made by Motorola’s two-way radios, which are used mainly by law enforcement officials and emergency units. Nextel challenged Motorola’s attempt to register the sound with the USPTO, arguing first that the sound fails to function as a mark and second, that even if used as a mark, the chirp is not inherently distinctive and has not acquired distinctiveness.

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Motorola chirp not a trade mark, says TTAB

The rest of this article is available to subscribers to Managing IP only.

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