Technically speaking, you can trademark anything you want. The only “requirement” is that your mark should meet Kansas’ and the Federal Government’s criteria for eligibility.

Most states, including Kansas, share similar trademark guidelines, so as long as you fill out an application to trademark an original asset, you won’t have any issues. 

Generally speaking, you can trademark the following:

Brand Names (Words, Letters, Abbreviations, etc.)LogosNumbersSoundsDesignsImages

We said before that you could “technically” trademark anything, so what can’t you trademark? Here’s a brief outline of marks that may not get approved:

Vulgarity or profanity of any kindOfficial government words, names, sounds, or imageryLack of general descriptiveness or distinctivenessDeceptivenessLikelihood of confusion

Most of these terms are self-explanatory. Two of the most common terms that aren’t as clear are the lack of descriptiveness/distinctiveness and the likelihood of confusion.

By lack of descriptiveness, we mean you can’t trademark something “merely descriptive.” When your mark is merely descriptive, it describes the quality or characteristics of your goods or services.

You can’t, for example, trademark a name like “World’s Best Pizza,” as it’s considered merely descriptive. U.S. law prevents people from claiming trademark rights in descriptive or generic words (“world,” in this case).

Lack of distinctiveness is when your mark fails to identify/distinguish your goods or services. If you simply name your mark “Car,” it’s too generic and doesn’t identify your company’s distinguishable features.

Finally, the likelihood of confusion means you can’t trademark a mark so similar to others that people believe both companies’ products come from the same place.