Smiling cartoon stick figure waring a lanyard reading “MEMBER” and pointing at a chalkboard with “Collective Marks” written in large chalk letters — representing a blog post about collective membership trademarks.

A collective mark (also known as a “collective membership mark” [1]) is a type of trademark owned by an organization (a “collective organization”), but used by members of the organization to indicate membership in the organization. In contrast with a traditional trademark or a non-traditional trademark that is owned by and used by an organization, or a certification mark that is owned by an organization but used by authorized users to indicate compliance with a certification standard.

A collective mark’s sole purpose is to indicate membership in the organization. For example, the organization may be for a particular activity (e.g., selling a type of good, providing a type of service, etc.) or a specific purpose (e.g., a social club, a trade association, a charitable organization, etc.). Members of the organization may receive an indication of membership that shows the collective mark, such as a membership card, certificate, sticker, patch, etc.

An application for a collective mark must include a description of the nature of the collective organization by type, purpose, or area of activity of the members. The description will usually include obvious identifying words like “membership,” “club,” “society,” “association,” “order,” “league,” and “legion” (e.g., “indicating membership in an association of computer professionals”). All collective mark applications are categorized into international class 200.

Collective marks were formally recognized in the United States with the passage of the Lanham Act in 1946, which took effect on July 5, 1947. There are currently over 6,500 active collective mark registrations. The Theta Xi Fraternity Logo collective mark [2], first registered in November 1956, is the oldest collective mark still registered and in use.

Other long-registered collective marks include the Lions Club International Logo collective mark [3], first registered in March 1957, the YMCA collective mark [4], first registered in October 1958, the National Ski Patrol Logo collective mark [5], first registered in August 1961, and the National Court of the Royal Order of Jesters Logo collective mark [6], first registered in 1964.

Want to learn more about trademarks? Check out our posts on What's a Trademark?, US TM Registration Process, and Introduction.