Summary: The purpose of this doc is to outline official manufacturer style guidelines. This guide will serve as a reference when questions arise about which brands should receive trademarks, the rules surrounding trademarking in general, and specific OEM requirements for their copy styling.
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Important Links:
Trademark & Style Guide
This is the official guide for all trademark and style rules. It is comprehensive, regularly updated, and supersedes any other trademark or style resource.
Training Video (March 2022)
This video provides basic information on how to approach the guide, as well as helpful hints regarding trademark and style.
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Basic Reference
The following resource applies to nearly all brands, but there are exceptions that this does not cover. Those can be found in the official guide (above), and the text below can be found on each page of the guide as well.
When the Mark Must Be Used
You must include the trademark in these instances:
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After the first appearance in a text section is trademarked, further trademarks within the text for that word are not necessary.
When the Mark Should Not Be Used
1. If the trademarked word is being used in plural or possessive form.
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b) Any time the sentence says anything about the dealer carrying, stocking, selling, etc, you are dealing with the brand, not the company. Why? Example: - “We proudly sell Ford, Chevy, Toyota, and Subaru.” In this case, is the dealer selling the actual companies themselves? Nope. They are selling the vehicles those companies make. These need trademarks, because they are brands of vehicles that the dealer sells: Ford®, Chevy®, Toyota®, and Subaru®"
Dealer Names
Some dealer names include brands that are trademarked. You don't need to worry about trademarks in dealer names, with the exception of Harley-Davidson® and Indian Motorcycle®. If you want to include the dealer name in your copy, feel free to use a trademark if the dealer uses one in their own copy.
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*Note*: With Indian Motorcycle®, some dealers (and even some OEM logos) will have this stylized as Indian® Motorcycle. If that's the case, feel free to use that style in your own copy.
Using Brands as Nouns
1. Do not use a parent brand as a noun under any circumstances.
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ACCEPTABLE: The Polaris Sportsman® is great for work or play.
Where to Place the Trademark
1. Place the trademark immediately after the word: Kawasaki®
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3. It's also OK to use a trademark on every word that usually takes the trademark: Kawasaki® Jet Ski®
Helpful Hint
To search the trademark/style guide for a brand, use shift-ctrl-H. It will search for all instances of the brand in all tabs.
In the Event of a Brand That Isn’t in the Guide
If you search for a brand in the guide and cannot find it anywhere, it means that we have yet to research it. Instead of having it come back later as a correction request, you should feel free to contact anyone on the QA team when that happens, and we'll quickly research it and let you know the result so that you can finish your site work with the proper trademarking. The brand will then be added to the relevant tab in the guide for the next person down the line.