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.
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.
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:
1. Every header (H1s, H2s, etc) 2. Every button 3. First appearance of the trademarked word in the text of a featured banner, article, or footer 4. First appearance of the trademarked word in SERP (title/meta description) text
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.
If the situation is that the trademark is required, you will need to do some re-wording. For example: Incorrect: Polaris Sportsmans® Correct: Polaris Sportsman® ATVs Incorrect: Polaris Sportsman’s® advanced technology Correct: The advanced technology of a Polaris Sportsman®
Note: There are some exceptions to this rule, most notably Yamaha's WaveRunner brand, which can be used in the plural form with the trademark (WaveRunners®). These exceptions are listed along with other trademarked brands in the guide's lists.
2. You are referring to the company, not the brand.
This can be tricky, but here are some ways to tell which one you are dealing with:
a) The easiest way to tell is by removing the word. If the sentence still makes sense, you are almost certainly dealing with a brand. If the sentence no longer makes sense, you’re talking about the company. Examples: - “Ford prides itself on making cars that last.” Removing Ford, we have “______ prides itself on making cars that last.” This makes no sense, so this is talking about the company, and gets no trademark. - “A Ford car is something you know you can count on to get you there safely.” Removing Ford, we get “A car is something you know you can count on to get you there safely.” Makes sense, so we have a brand here, and it should get a trademark: “A Ford® car”
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.
Dealer names follow the same rules as other trademarked words - if you use a dealer name like Indian Motorcycle® of San Diego in your featured banner, you do not need to use the trademark for Indian Motorcycle for the rest of the text section.
*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.
WRONG: Polaris® For Sale.
CORRECT: Polaris® Off-Road Vehicles For Sale.
2. For sub-brands & models, while it is discouraged by trademark lawyers, it is acceptable to use the word on its own.
BEST PRACTICE: The Polaris Sportsman® ATV is great for work or play.
ACCEPTABLE: The Polaris Sportsman® is great for work or play.
Where to Place the Trademark
1. Place the trademark immediately after the word: Kawasaki®
2. When a brand is matched with a model/sub-brand and both have registered trademarks, only one trademark (placed at the end) is necessary: Kawasaki Jet Ski®.
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.