The Sweet Sound of a Ball Dropping in the Cup OR The Smell of a Freshly Cut Green, Protect Those Non-traditional Trademarks!

The sweet sound of a swing, a club striking a ball, the ball landing on a green, and eventually the ball dropping into the cup. Sounds so distinctive that they often conjure up great memories for the avid golfer. Perhaps that perfect 4-iron that rolled in from 200 yards, or that 9-iron to the island green.

Guess what, these sounds are also so distinctive that manufacturers want consumers to associate their goods with the sounds. Thus, we look at an often overlooked aspect of federal trademark protection; namely the protection of sounds and smells.

Our friends over at The Trademark Branding Cap blog recently published a great post on the six Mark Drawing Codes that the PTO uses to classify submitted drawings. One of the Codes is:

(6) FOR SITUATIONS FOR WHICH NO DRAWING IS POSSIBLE, SUCH AS SOUND

The Trademark Branding Cap points out that only 317 records are categorized with this Code, including well know examples such as the Intel Chimes and the ESPN Chimes.

Of particular interest to this blog is Serial Number 78843863, which is described as a ring tone comprising the sound of a golf club hitting a golf ball, the sound of the golf ball landing on a putting green, and the sound of the golf ball falling into the cup. Interesting… very interesting…. Does this give you equipment manufacturers any ideas?