Cartoon stick figure pointing at a chalkboard with “EMMY” written in large chalk letters — representing a blog post about trademark registrations for the Emmy awards.

Trademark: Emmy

First Used: 1948

Registered: 1983

Current Owner: THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS [1]

Trademark Types: traditional trademark; word mark; certification mark; non-traditional trademark; trade dress; configuration mark

Primarily Associated With: educational and entertainment services rendered through live television programs dealing with awards for television programming; and books, brochures, magazines, pamphlets, award directories dealing with television programming [2]

Also A Trademark For: downloadable mobile applications; books, award directories, and magazines containing award ceremony information; promoting the interests of the television industry and promoting public awareness of television industry information; and providing a website featuring award ceremonies, television industry information and information related to entertainment and educational content [3]; and indicating membership in an organization that promotes the interests of, and excellence in, the television industry, including as it relates to entertainment and educational content [4]

Brief (and likely incomplete) History [5]:

The EMMY® awards (or EMMYS® [6] in plural if you prefer) is an annual awards show recognizing outstanding achievements in television. The awards show always brings out the biggest stars in the entertainment industry, some of whom may be trying to cap off, or start, an EGOT (EMMY®, GRAMMY®, OSCAR®, TONY®), or are coming off a win or nomination at the GOLDEN GLOBES®.

The Television Academy was founded in 1946, when television was still a new and uncertain medium. At first, the Academy was reportedly skeptical of creating an awards show, but eventually saw an annual award as a way to give television more visibility, credibility, and prestige.

But what do you call an award show for a new fledgling technology like television? One early proposal was “Ike,” after the iconoscope tube used in television cameras. But the Academy moved away from that name because it was already strongly associated with General Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower. The eventual winning suggestion was “Immy,” a nickname for the image orthicon camera tube, a key innovation that helped improve early television broadcasting. “Immy” was later changed to “Emmy” to better match the female figure used for the award trophy.

Speaking of the trophy, the Emmy trophy was selected in 1948 after the Academy rejected 47 other proposals. The winning design came from television engineer Louis McManus, who used his wife as the model. The trophy shows a winged woman holding an atom. The wings represent the muse of art, while the atom represents the science and technology behind television. The trophy design has remained substantively the same since, and has become so well known across the industry that (yep, you guessed it) the design is a registered trademark: the Emmy Trophy configuration mark [7].

The first Emmy Awards was held on January 25, 1949, at the Hollywood Athletic Club. The award show focused only on Los Angeles-area television programming, with only six awards being presented. The first Emmy went to Shirley Dinsdale, a 20-year-old ventriloquist and star of the children’s show Judy Splinters, winning for Outstanding Personality.

The show has grown to over 300 Emmy trophies handed out each year, covering national programming, regional television, daytime television, sports, news, documentaries, international programming, and more. As of 2026, Saturday Night Live is the most awarded program in Emmy history, with 360 nominations and 114 wins. Fittingly, Lorne Michaels is the most nominated individual, with 113 nominations. Sheila Nevins holds the record for most Emmy wins by an individual, with 31.