Trademark Guidelines

Introduction
The name and trademarks of the SMARTer Kids Foundation (the “Foundation”) are valuable intellectual property assets. Trademarks are important because they serve to identify the Foundation as the source of certain Grants and programs. They are also rights, however, that can be lost through misuse.

To ensure correct usage of the Foundation’s trademarks, please refer to the guidelines for Trademark Usage.

Why protect trademarks?
Without trademarks, customers would not be able to distinguish different organizations' services, Grants and programs of high quality from those of lesser quality. For these reasons, it is important to understand the Foundation’s trademarks and what you must do to protect them.

The owner of a valid trademark may prevent others from using its mark for particular goods or services and may recover monetary damages caused by another's infringement. However, trademarks must be used properly and consistently. Otherwise the trademark risks becoming generic, making the mark impossible to enforce (as happened, for example, with zipper, harmonica, cellophane, yo-yo and kerosene).

What are trademarks?
A trademark is a word, acronym, logo, logotype, name, symbol, design, tagline, slogan or phrase that identifies a product and distinguishes it from similar products made by competitors. Consequently, the Foundation’s trademarks are valuable because they represent the standards of excellence and consistent quality associated with the Foundation’s Grants and programs.

Trademarks can be classified in two categories:
	Registered marks (indicated by the ® symbol) have undergone the appropriate legal process and are registered with the Trade-marks Branch of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (trademarks may also be registered in other countries).
	Common law (unregistered) marks (indicated by the ™ symbol) have not been formally registered, but may still be valid and enforceable (although registration provides additional legal rights).

For a list of the Foundation’s trademarks, go to the Trademark and Nouns List.