Trademark and Logo Usage Requirements
PrefaceThese Borland Trademark and Logo Usage Requirements are applicable to all Borland organizations worldwide and to Borland business partners, resellers, developers, customers, advertising agencies, consultants, professional writers and editors, licensees and to third parties making reference to Borland Trademarks in promotional, advertising, instructional or reference materials, or on their web sites, products, labels or packaging.
The Borland Trademark and Logo Usage Requirements set forth the authorized legal policies for using or referring to Borland brands, trademarks, product and service names, logos and slogans. Borland's brands, trademarks, names, and logos are among Borland's most important and valuable corporate assets. By following these guidelines, you help Borland protect its valuable trademark rights and strengthen Borland's corporate and brand identity, and help all of those benefiting from Borland's products and services by strengthening the identity and awareness of these important brands.
Contents
- Introduction
- Where to find more information
- Definitions
- Why Protect Trademarks?
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Use of Symbols and Legends
A. Rules of Proper Trademark Use
B. Proper Trademark Attribution -
Third-Party Use of Borland Trademarks
A. No Use of Borland Marks in Third-Party Company or Product Names
B. No Use of Borland Trade Dress by Third Parties
C. Promptly Report Suspected Infringements
D. Proper References to Borland Products or Services Okay
E. Use of Trademark Legend
F. No Use of Borland Logos
G. Fair & Descriptive Use of Borland Trademarks: Publications, Seminars and User Groups
H. Fair & Descriptive Use of Borland Trademarks: Trade Shows, Conferences, and Expos
I. Do Not Use Any of Borland's Logos
J. Use the Appropriate Trademark Attribution
K. Do Not Attempt to Claim or Establish Trademark Rights in Title
The strength of Borland's corporate and brand image throughout the world depends, in large part, upon the consistency of the proper use of all of Borland's trademarks and service marks, including the Borland corporate logo and the various Borland product and service names, slogans, designs and logos (collectively, the "Borland Trademarks"). Accordingly, the use of the Borland Trademarks should always be consistent with these guidelines.
These guidelines constitute a user friendly identification system that can be used by Borland, Borland's corporate partners, resellers, developers, customers and licensees, advertising agencies, etc. to refer to Borland and its products and services.
If you have questions or would like further information regarding the Borland trademarks or the Borland Trademark and Logo Usage Requirements, please contact the Borland Legal Department's Trademark Group as follows:
Borland Software Corporation
100 Enterprise Way
Scotts Valley, CA 95066-3249
Attn: Legal Department- Trademark Group
Fax: (831) 431-4171
Email: legal@borland.com
"Borland" refers to Borland Software Corporation and all of its subsidiaries, business units, and divisions worldwide.
"Borland Trademarks" refer specifically to the Borland master brand and family brands, namely Inprise, Borland, AppCenter, AppServer, C++Builder, Delphi, Entera, InterBase, JBuilder, JDataStore, Kylix, VisiBroker (and associated logos and marks incorporating the master brand and/or family brand); and generally to all other product names, product feature names, service names, program names, logos, slogans, trade dress, and all other designations used to identify any product or service offered by Borland.
"Borland Logo" consists of the enlarged word "BORLAND®" and should always appear according to the specifications set forth in the Borland Standards Guide. For further information, please contact the Borland Marketing Department.
"Borland Trade Dress" refers to the overall (i) appearance of Borland's product packaging, web site and marketing materials and (ii) external product design of Borland's products, including distinctive features such as the Borland name, the appearance for which should always be according to the specifications contained within the Borland Standards Guide. Standards include typeface specifications and clear space and size requirements. For further information, please contact the Borland Marketing department.
Properly used, a trademark can be legally protected indefinitely. However, if it is used improperly, a trademark can become diluted or fall into generic use and lose its protected status. Words such as aspirin and zipper were once trademarks that became generic because their owners did not protect them properly.
Borland does not want its valuable trademarks added to the list of trademarks that have become generic. The responsibility for protecting our trademarks occurs every time each trademark is used by a Borland employee and our licensees - whenever the trademarks are published, including in products, presentations, books, marketing materials, or advertisements.
Trademark rights are acquired by the proper and continuous use of the trademark. Because correct use of our trademarks is important to Borland, we have drafted the following guidelines.
A. Rules of Proper Trademark Use
Third parties may refer to Borland products, technology and services by their associated Borland Trademarks, as long as such references are (i) truthful, fair, and not misleading and (ii) the use adheres to the guidelines set forth herein, which may be modified from time to at Borland's sole discretion.
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Trademarks are adjectives - not nouns or verbs. Accordingly, a trademark may not be used alone, as a noun. Rather, as often as possible, a trademark should be used as an adjective immediately preceding the generic noun that describes the product in question.
Examples of Correct Uses (Trademarks as adjectives):
Borland® technology
Delphi[TM] 5
Borland® JBuilder[TM] visual development tools
Examples of Incorrect Uses (Trademarks as stand alone nouns):
Handheld Express[TM]
Borland[TM] AppServer[TM]
An exception to the rule is the Borland name, which is not only a used as a mark to identify products and services, bust also as a company name. Accordingly, when using the Borland name as a reference to the company, the name may be used as a noun (i.e. in a press release: "Borland announced today the release of a new line of development tools.")
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No Possessives
As adjectives, trademarks are not to be used in possessive form. For example, one would not refer to "Borland's features" but rather to "...the features of the Borland® technology" or "the Borland® technology's features."
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No Plurals
As adjectives, trademarks are not to be used in plural form. For example, one would not refer to "Borlands" but rather to "Borland[TM] products" or "Borland® tools."
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No Verbs
Since a trademark is not a verb, it must never be used as a verb. For example, one should not use "Borland-ize".
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No Puns
Borland's trademarks are Borland's brands and the symbols of Borland goodwill worldwide. They should be treated with respect as valuable corporate assets of Borland. Accordingly, they should not be used as the object of puns or the like.
- Always spell and capitalize Borland's trademarks exactly as they are shown in the Borland Trademarks List. Do not shorten or abbreviate Borland product names.
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Always use trademarks and brand names in the ways they were intended for use. Do not use them for goods and services for which they were not originally intended.
B. Proper Trademark Attribution
Trademark ownership is attributed in two ways, with the use of a trademark symbol ([TM] or ®) after the trademark, and with a trademark legend, usually found at the end of a document in legible print following the copyright notice. Following are Borland's rules for use of its trademark symbols and legends:
Trademark Symbols
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Which Symbol Do I Use?
A trademark that has not been registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office is noted with a ™. Registered trademarks are noted with a ®. A trademark is a mark used on or in connection with a tangible product, e.g., Delphi™ 5, the Borland® AppCenter™ and the InterBase® product line, and should always refer to the full product name. If you are not sure which symbol you should use, please contact the Borland Legal Department.
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Where Do I Place the Symbol?
The symbol is placed immediately after the trademark, either in superscript or subscript. If you don't have the appropriate symbol keys in your word processing software, then using the symbols in parenthetical form is also permissible, (i.e., (R) or [TM]).
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When Do I Use the Symbol?
Follow these rules to determine when use of a trademark or registered trademark symbol is required:
1. Most Prominent Uses A trademark symbol is required for all prominent uses of the mark, e.g., on labels, packaging, promotional brochures, data sheets, press releases and advertisement headlines, except where space or style criteria prevent compliance with this requirement.
2. First Use in Text A trademark symbol is required upon the first use of the mark in any text or body copy, even though the symbol may have already been used in the headline or other prominent use.
3. All Logos
Trademark symbols are required for all Borland Trademarks in logo format, e.g., the Borland Logo.
All Borland trademarks that are used in a particular piece must be attributed with an appropriate trademark legend. The legend may be presented in "mouseprint" but must be large enough to be legible. It generally appears at the end of a document or on the back of a package, but it may be placed elsewhere, e.g., the front inside cover of documentation, or the bottom of a web page.
Borland uses a standard trademark legend that does not change except to add the marks that are referenced in the text. The following is the standard Borland Legend to be used in all material referencing any Borland Trademark:
"Borland, the Borland Logo [insert all other Borland Trademarks, Logos, Product Names, and slogans that are referred to or displayed in the document] are trademarks or registered trademarks of Borland Software Corporation in the United States and other countries."
Only certain approved uses of Borland Trademarks may be made by Borland business partners, licensees and other third parties. Unauthorized use of Borland Trademarks or of marks that are confusingly similar to Borland Trademarks may constitute an infringement of Borland's trademark rights. Following are Borland's general policies regarding third-party use of Borland Trademarks:
Unless a third party enters into a written trademark license with Borland or other contract that licenses Borland's Trademarks, third parties may not use, in whole or in part, the Borland mark, the Borland logo, or any other Borland Trademark or confusingly similar name or mark as all or part of their company, product, trade, or service names, marks or logos.
Third parties are prohibited from using or imitating Borland Trade Dress (see Definitions) for their own products, including any of the distinctive ornamental features of Borland products and packaging, web site and marketing materials.
Please report any infringement of the Borland Trademarks or Borland Trade Dress to the Legal Department. Please provide as much detail as possible regarding the identity of the possible infringer as well as the suspected infringing use.
D. Proper References to Borland Products or Services Okay
Third parties may use Borland Trademarks to refer to Borland products and services on packaging, promotional/advertising materials to describe, for example, that the third party product is compatible with the referenced Borland product or technology, provided they are used in compliance with all of the guidelines set forth above and with the following additional requirements:
- The Borland trademark is used in a referential phrase such as "developed with", "for use with", "for", or "compatible with".
- The Borland trademark appears less prominent than the third party product name.
- The product is in fact developed with, compatible with, or otherwise works with, the referenced Borland product.
- The reference to Borland does not imply any endorsement, sponsorship by, or other false associations with Borland or Borland products.
- The use does not refer to Borland or its products in a false, misleading or disparaging light.
- The Borland Logo is not used.
For example, a reseller that has entered into a trademark license with Borland may use Borland Trademarks in its advertisements to advertise the Borland products that bear those trademarks, as long as the reseller properly uses the marks and the appropriate trademark symbols and legend. Similarly, while a reseller or distributor is not permitted to indicate that its software is intended for Borland systems by incorporating Borland Trademarks in the name of its software product, it may use a descriptive phrase that truthfully states that the product is for Borland systems, technology or software.
For example:
Right:
Widget[TM] for Borland® development tools
Widget[TM] developed with Borland® software
Wrong:
Widget: Borland Version 2.3
BorlandWidget
WidgetBorland
Third parties should not include legends or other statements that state or suggest that they have or are claiming any rights in any Borland Trademark. In those cases where Borland Trademarks are licensed, the licensee will often be obligated to include a statement attributing ownership of the marks to Borland, such as the following:
Borland Trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Borland Software Corporation in the U.S. or other countries and are used under license.
If you are unsure whether a particular third party use requires an attribution legend, contact the Borland Legal Department.
Borland's third-party business partners (e.g. resellers, distributors, independent sales or service organizations) may not use the Borland Logo or any other Borland Trademark as part of their own logo or company name. However, such parties may use our logos on or in connection with their web sites, products, packaging, manuals, promotional/advertising materials, or as specified in an express written license agreement from Borland.
A third party can use a Borland Trademark in the titles of books, magazines, e-zines, periodicals, other publications, educational seminars, training seminars, or user groups, provided the use is referential and less prominent than the rest of the title and the use reflects favorably on both Borland and Borland products or technology. A space should separate the Borland trademark from the rest of the title and you should not claim rights in the portion of the title referring to the Borland Trademark.
Examples of appropriate titles include:
Borland® Technology Review
Borland® Technology User Group
Borland® Technology Training Seminar
The company name and logo of the third party should appear in a prominent location on all materials relating to the publication, seminar, or user group, as follows:
For publications: the publisher's name and logo should be displayed prominently on the masthead and in the publication block.
For books: the publisher's name and logo should be displayed prominently on the cover, spine, and title page.
For seminars and classes: the provider's name and logo should be prominently displayed on all materials and only individual class or seminar titles may include a Borland Trademark descriptively to indicate that the content of the class or seminar is related to a particular Borland product or technology. In advertising and promotional material, class and seminar titles should be displayed far less prominently than the provider's own name and logo.
Unless Borland is sponsoring your show or conference and you have entered into a written sponsorship agreement with Borland that provides to the contrary, the name of any trade show, conference or exposition concerning a Borland product, service or technology should begin with the producer's or sponsor's brand or name, and should then follow a "for [Borland Trademark product or technology]" format. For example,
OwnBrand Expo for Borland® Technology
MyBrand Conference for Developers using the Borland® Technology
SponsorBrand Forum on Borland® Technology
Include the producer's and/or sponsor's own company name and logo prominently on all materials associated with, or advertising or promoting, the conference.
Do not use any of Borland's logos in your publications or materials for seminars, user groups, trade shows, conferences, and expositions, unless you have a written license from Borland permitting such use. Do not do anything else that might be understood to suggest association with or sponsorship by Borland.
For ALL of the descriptive uses described above, you must use a legend in the following form in your legal notices and publication block (if a magazine) and on all materials referencing the Borland Trademark:
[Insert the Borland Trademark, e.g. "Borland, etc."] are trademarks or registered trademarks of Borland Software Corporation in the United States and other countries. [Insert publisher, producer or provider name is independent of Borland Software Corporation OR (Title) is an independent (publication) and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Borland Software Corporation.]
Since the above descriptive uses of Borland Trademarks are intended merely as a reference to Borland's products and technologies (and not as a trademark use or form of branding your own products and services with Borland's marks), you should not attempt to claim or establish trademark rights in the name or title of your publication, seminar, user group, conference, trade show, or exposition to the extent that it references or incorporates any trademark. Do not register or use the name or title as a trademark, service mark, trade name or DBA (doing business as) name.
BORLAND RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES TO THESE GUIDELINES AS IT DEEMS NECESSARY OR APPROPRIATE.
Copyright © 2001 Borland Software Corporation. All rights reserved.