Commissioners trademark seal

The now recognizable Carbon County seal-created by artist Bobbie Herman-will soon be trademarked by the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) for use on paper and stationary.

While there was much discussion over the ins-and-outs of trademarks during the June 7 meeting of the BOCCC, the commissioners approved a motion to apply for a trademark of the seal. Commissioner Travis Moore and Carbon County Attorney Ashley Mayfield-Davis provided insight into the trademark process during the discussion.

It may be possible for some to confuse the terms “copyright” and “trademark”, or even use the two interchangeably. There are significant differences, however, between the two processes. According to LegalZoom, the differences between copyright and trademark can be distilled down to the following; copyrights protect the creative or intellectual works-such as books, music, works of art and even software code-while trademarks are applied to commercial names, phrases and logos.

Another distinct difference between a copyright and a trademark is a copyright—at least on works created on or after January 1, 1978—is automatically protected from the moment of its creation for the life of the author plus 70 years. Trademarks, at least according to Wyoming State Statute, have an initial term of five years.

According to Wyoming State Statute 40-1-105(a), registration of a mark is effective for five years and can be effective for another five years if renewed within the six months before the expiration of the trademark.

When discussing trademarking the Carbon County logo with the BOCCC, Carbon County Gwynn Bartlett said it was her understanding a trademark could be required for any different application or color of the logo.

“I guess there’s a fee for every color and every use for what we want to use it for,” said Bartlett.

The county clerk then deferred to Moore, who she said was going through a similar process for the Carbon County Higher Education Center.

“Just the black and white seal,  if we ran that through for stationary as part of a letterhead or maybe a watermark, for example, because the watermark’s gray it’s another $100. Any variation to any of that stuff in terms of the design and or application is a new application for another $100,” said Moore. “If you’ve trademarked a piece of it, you’ve claimed that intellectual property. We have original artwork, all those types of things, it’s not that big (of) a deal. So, you’re not going to try and trademark every single application for everything.”

“My brain just goes to where you’re worried someone may take it,” said Mayfield-Davis. “What are they going to put it on that you’re worried about? Is it a shirt or a hat or a sticker or a cup? I feel like the true use Carbon County wants it for, other than the official seal out there on your building, is going to be paperwork that you’re producing. I imagine that’s going to cover the majority of our needs.” 

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, “A common misconception is that having a trademark means you legally own a particular word or phrase and can prevent others from using it. However, you don’t have rights to the word or phrase in general, only to how that word or phrase is used with your specific goods or services.”

Moore told the rest of the commissioners it was his understanding that, while they could trademark the Carbon County logo on paper and stationary, it could not stop someone from taking the logo and making alterations to it for something else. It also couldn’t stop someone from using the logo as a background for a Zoom meeting, similar to how the Seal of Wyoming has been used in backgrounds of Zoom meetings for the Wyoming Legislature.

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, “For example, let’s say you use a logo as a trademark for your small woodworking business to identify and distinguish your goods or services from others in the woodworking field. This doesn’t mean you can stop others from using a similar logo for non-woodworking related goods or services.”

Moore asked Mayfield-Davis if the use of the trademark would discourage others from using the Carbon County seal, as it would become more associated with the County the more it was used on letterhead and stationary. Mayfield-Davis replied some of Moore’s questions required questions she didn’t feel comfortable answering outside of an executive session so as not to provide a “how-to” on using the Carbon County seal for other purposes.

“I think this is the first step. Let’s go ahead and get it trademarked for what we’re using it for today,” said Commissioner John Espy. “I really don’t see where we’re going to have a big issue of people trying to steal this and make money off of this.”

The motion to trademark the Carbon County seal passed unanimously.

The next meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners will be at 9 a.m. on June 21 at the Carbon Building - Courthouse Annex in Rawlins.