Non-Traditional Trademarks: Scent Marks
Non-traditional trademarks are unconventional and unique forms of trademarks, including trade dress, color marks, shape marks, configuration marks, position marks, sound marks, scent marks, motion marks, hologram marks, texture marks, and taste marks. Non-traditional trademarks are less common than traditional trademarks but provide a creative and innovative way for businesses to establish and protect their brand identities.
A scent mark protects distinctive scent(s) associated with a brand. The scent mark must be used in connection with a good or a service, distinctively identify that good or service as being offered by the brand owner, and be non-functional (e.g., the scent can’t be the primary purpose of the product). In order to be registered as a trademark, an applicant must also prove that the scent mark has acquired distinctiveness (e.g., the scent over a long period of time has become distinctive and brand-identifying to the consuming public).
Scent marks are difficult to register as trademarks – there are currently only 8 scent marks registered on the principal register at the US Patent and Trademark Office. The first scent mark ever registered in the US was for the scent of Plumeria blossom for thread and embroidery yarn, registered in 1991 but now abandoned [1].
The oldest still-active scent mark registration is for the Power Plus Cherry Lubricants scent mark, registered in June 2001 [2]. The other seven still-active scent mark registrations include the Moroccanoil Hair Products scent mark, registered in November 2011 [3], the Grendene Bubble Gum Shoes scent mark, registered in June 2015 [4], the Play-Doh Modeling Compound scent mark, registered in May 2018 [5], the Bushnell Hoppe’s 9 scent mark, registered in March 2020 [6], the Pure Polish Orange Shoe Polish scent mark, registered in May 2021 [7], the Storm Bowling Ball scent mark, registered in September 2021 [8], and the Crayola Crayons scent mark, registered in July 2024 [9].
Want to learn more about trademarks? Check out our posts on “Intellectual” Property? Sounds Made Up., 5 Key Facts About Trademarks, and I Think I Understand IP, But Can You Give Me An Example?.
Copyright © 2025 by Illustrated IP, LLC. All rights reserved.
[1] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,639,128 (abandoned), available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=1,639,128&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,463,044, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74720993&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[3] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,057,947, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77755814&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[4] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,754,435, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=86265443&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[5] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 5,467,089, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=87335817&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[6] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,016,544, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88326444&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[7] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,338,566, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=90026384&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[8] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,497,227, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=90192486&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[9] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 7,431,203, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88111282&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.