Grammy
Trademark: Grammy
First Used: 1959
Registered: 1970
Current Owner: NATIONAL ACADEMY OF RECORDING ARTS & SCIENCES, INC. [1]
Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark; design mark
Primarily Associated With: association services – namely, promoting artistic progress and achievement in the field of recording arts and sciences [2]
Brief (and likely incomplete) History [3]:
The GRAMMY AWARDS® [4] (or GRAMMY® [5], GRAMMYS® [6], or MUSIC'S BIGGEST NIGHT® [7], if you prefer) is an annual awards show recognizing outstanding achievements in music. 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 first Grammy awards ceremony was held in Los Angeles in 1959 by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (Recording Academy). At the first ceremony, 28 “Gramophone Awards” were presented with each trophy featuring a golden gramophone. The big winners for the night included Henry Mancini for Album of the Year (The Music from Peter Gunn) and Domenico Modugno for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)). The second Grammy awards ceremony was held six months later, in November 1959. The ceremony skipped 1960, but established its yearly cadence in 1961 and hasn’t missed a year since. The first Grammy Awards ceremony to be televised live was in 1971.
The four major Grammy award categories are Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. The number of award categories has fluctuated dramatically over time. The 28 award categories in 1959 had grown all the way to 109 (!!) before being scaled back down to 78 in 2011. As of the 68th Annual Grammy Awards (2026), there are a total of 95 Grammy categories. The most awarded artist in Grammy history? The Queen herself: as of 2026, Beyoncé holds the records for the most nominations (99) and most wins (35).
The Grammy trophy itself is crafted from a secret zinc alloy known as “GRAMMIUM” and plated with 24-karat gold. While the Recording Academy does not own any non-traditional trademark registrations protecting the shape or configuration of the trophy (they should!), The Recording Academy does own a few design mark registrations for the Grammy trophy, including the Grammy Trophy (Black & White) Logo design mark [8] (for “promoting artistic progress and achievement in the field of recording arts and sciences” and more) and the Grammy Trophy (color) Logo design mark [9] (for “musical sound recordings” and more).
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[1] Grammy Awards, https://www.grammy.com/.
[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 887,642, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=72308304&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[3] Grammy Award, BRITANNICA, last updated January 30, 2026, and available at https://www.britannica.com/art/Grammy-Award; What is a Grammy? A quick history of the prestigious music award, USA TODAY, posted January 3, 2025, and available at https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2025/01/03/what-is-a-grammy-award/77326899007/; Grammy, EBSCO, published in 2025, and available at https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/music/grammy-award; History of the GRAMMY Award, MUSICIANS HALL OF FAME, posted April 23, 2019, and available at https://www.musicianshalloffame.com/history-of-the-grammy-awards/; Awards Nominations & Winners, GRAMMY AWARDS, available at https://www.grammy.com/awards; 9 Things You Didn’t Know About the GRAMMY Awards, THE LOS ANGELES FILM SCHOOL, available at https://www.lafilm.edu/blog/grammy-fun-facts/; How the GRAMMY® Got its Name From Louisiana, EXPLORE LOUISIANA, available at https://www.explorelouisiana.com/articles/how-grammy-got-its-name-louisiana.
[4] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,827,248, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76467046&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[5] Id. at 2.
[6] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,630,880, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76256779&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[7] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,089,285, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76638895&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[8] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,018,537, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73031920&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[9] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 5,641,780, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=87897848&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.