A trademark is a brand identification for a product or service, the latter officially called a "service mark." The mark can be written text, text in a particular stylized form or a graphic symbol. Company names and products are often registered with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Organization (USPTO) to help ensure their legal usage.
We Are Not a Source of Trademark Registrations
The purpose of this encyclopedia is to provide meaningful definitions of computer science, telecommunications, semiconductor and electronics terms and related products, but it is not meant to be a source of trademark registration information. When we know of an origin of a term, we state it.
We Believe Everything Is a Trademark
We expect that every name of a product is a trademark of its respective organization. If a company creates a product brand and continues to use it, the name is a de facto trademark whether or not it is registered. Among other legal reasons, registration serves to officially document how long a name has been in use.
Contact the Company
If a particular technology or product in this database is attributed to an organization, it may be a de facto trademark ("used in practice") of that entity or a de jure trademark ("legally registered") of the organization. To find trademark information about an item in this publication, please contact the legal counsel of the organization mentioned as its creator. See
copyright.