Trademarks and copyright

A trademark can be a name, word, phrase, or logo used by a manufacturer to distinguish its goods from those of another. A trademark symbol (™) is used to indicate a name that has not been registered with the US government, whereas a registered trademark symbol (®) is used for a name that has been officially registered.

A trademarked/registered name should be capitalized and used as an adjective, not a noun, on first occurrence in a document; for example, the Uniject™ injection system (rather than simply the Uniject™), in which Uniject™ is the adjective and injection system is the noun. The ™ or ® symbol comes directly after the trademarked/registered name, before any spacing or punctuation.

PATH prefers not to use the ™ or ® symbol in document titles or subtitles, article headlines, and social media posts, as special characters can behave unpredictably when shared on the web. Instead, use the symbol at first occurrence in a heading, subheading, or body text.

Use the proper symbol for trademark (™) rather than superscript letters.

Owners of trademarks are typically identified when their property is first described. See below for approved language for several trademarked/registered names commonly used at PATH.

The identification statement is generally placed in parentheses following the trademarked/registered name and symbol.

An alternative to placing the identification statement in parentheses following the trademarked/registered name and symbol is to place it at the bottom of the page, separate from the body text and in a smaller font size. Do not use a superscript numeral or letter to create this footnote, which is a feat more easily accomplished in design software than in Word.

In rare circumstances, when use of the identification statement would cause formatting or space issues, it is acceptable to leave the statement out.

Note that the symbol is not repeated in the statement; neither is it repeated elsewhere in the document.

Special mention

The name SILCS (i.e., SILCS diaphragm) is never spelled out.

NIFTY (in all caps, an acronym for Neonatal Intuitive Feeding Technology) was PATH’s prototype. Nifty (with only the first letter capped; formally the Nifty Feeding Cup) is Laerdal’s product. Neither is trademarked, so neither needs a ™.

Similarly, the Woman’s Condom is PATH's prototype. It does not need a ™. Female condom is acceptable for general use.

Copyright is a legal right that protects the copyright holder (generally the author, photographer, illustrator, or publisher) from unauthorized use of copyrighted material. Staff must obtain permission to use non-PATH copyrighted material in PATH publications. PATH's Library and Knowledge Services staff may be able to assist in obtaining this permission. The copyright holder will usually require that the source of the material be recognized or credited. The copyright holder may also require payment of a fee. When a PATH publication uses what appears to be copyrighted material, editors and proofreaders should verify with authors that PATH has obtained permission to use the material and that an appropriate credit is shown.

For information on how to format a PATH copyright statement, see Elements of a formal document / Inside front cover / Copyright notice.