Over on that great font of science fictional information – Facebook – someone wondered what the Trademark status was for the existing science fiction magazines.
Their comment came in response to discussions about the titles that were picked up by Must Read Magazines – Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine and The Magazing of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
I’ve looked at this before, mostly for Experimenter’s own internal purposes, but I thought that the question merited a broader look and so I undertook to put together a list of both contemporay and legacy titles to see where things stood.
The table below contains my preliminary findings.
However, when it comes to Intellectual Property, you will quickly discover that it is not as simple a thing as “yes, they have a registered trademark for the name” or “no, there’s no registered trademark for that title”.
Caveats are important here, so please review the following before taking a look at the list:
1. I only looked at US registrations. Each country has their own and US applicants can also obtain “world” registration for a mark, the details of which are too much to go into here. Takeaway: I may very well not have recorded an actual, active registration for one or more of these titles.
2. I only looked up “word marks” – the actual text of the name. There may very well be “drawing” marks, ones that contain a specific artistic presentation
3. Some trademarks are claimed but not registered (TM); others may be registered in a single state, but not Federally. Those have not been looked at.
4. There are arcane rules and incantations that surround trademarks. One of them is the fact that if someone had a trademark but allowed it to lapse, the owner may still retain the ability to enforce its ownership to some degree or another. A long-standing and unique presence in a marketplace can confer such protections (although having an active registration is much stronger in terms of enforcement.)
5. Registration is only one-half (maybe) of the equation: You also need to have the wherewithal to enforce it – and doing so is a requirement of maintaining its status.
6. Trademarks are registered ONLY for one or more “classes” of goods and services. There could be (as odd as it would be) a registered trademark for Arthur C. Clarke’s Science Fiction Magazine and another registered trademark for Arthur C. Clarke’s SCUBA Gear. The two can exist harmoniously, even when owned by different registrants, because their registered goods and services are so far removed from each other, there can be little or no “confusion in the marketplace” as to what the mark is for.
7. I am not an attorney. I am not a lawyer. I am not a barrister. I have worked in intellectual property for years, have succcessfully written and obtained both patents (utility and design) and trademarks for both myself and others. If you’d like some low-cost help in obtaining a trademark, get in touch. I’ll let you know what I can and can’t do.
8. The information contained is what is available currently. It does not reflect pending applications.
Here’s the list of contemporary and legacy magazine titles in alphabetical order, as well as their trademark status. NA means nothing was found at all. Live means it is an active, enforceable trademark. Dead means it was once registered but no longer is. Goods and Services and Class provide the USPTO’s registery numbers for such things and I’ve included their list for reference:
USPTO
Goods
Class 1 – Chemicals
Class 2 – Paints
Class 3 – Cosmetics and cleaning preparations
Class 4 – Lubricants and fuels
Class 5 – Pharmaceuticals
Class 6 – Metal goods
Class 7 – Machinery
Class 8 – Hand tools
Class 9 – Electrical and scientific apparatus
Class 10 – Medical apparatus
Class 11 – Environmental control apparatus
Class 12 – Vehicles
Class 13 – Firearms
Class 14 – Jewelry
Class 15 – Musical instruments
Class 16 – Paper goods and printed matter
Class 17 – Rubber goods
Class 18 – Leather goods
Class 19 – Non-metallic building materials
Class 20 – Furniture and articles not otherwise classified
Class 21 – Housewares and glass
Class 22 – Cordage and fibers
Class 23 – Yarns and threads
Class 24 – Fabrics
Class 25 – Clothing
Class 26 – Fancy good
Class 27 – Floor coverings
Class 28 – Toys and sporting goods
Class 29 – Meats and processed foods
Class 30 – Staple foods
Class 31 – Natural agricultural products
Class 32 – Light beverages
Class 33 – Wines and spirits
Class 34 – Smokers’ articles
Services
Class 35 – Advertising and business
Class 36 – Insurance and financial
Class 37 – Building construction and repair
Class 38 – Telecommunications
Class 39 – Transportation and storage
Class 40 – Treatment of materials
Class 41 – Education and entertainment
Class 42 – Computer and scientific
Class 43 – Hotels and restaurants
Class 44 – Medical, beauty and agricultural
Class 45 – Personal and legal
Steve Davidson is the publisher of Amazing Stories.
Steve has been a passionate fan of science fiction since the mid-60s, before he even knew what it was called.
