Rebel cartoon stick figure with green hair pointing at a chalkboard with “Sound Marks” written in large chalk letters — representing a blog post about sound marks and non-traditional trademarks.

Non-traditional trademarks are unconventional and unique forms of trademarks. Non-traditional trademarks are less common than traditional trademarks (and certification marks and collective marks) but provide a creative and innovative way for businesses to establish and protect their brand identities.

The largest category of non-traditional trademarks is trade dress, which includes the overall look and feel of a product, product packaging, or service. Trade dress can include color marks, configuration marks, position marks, repeating pattern marks, shape marks, and texture marks. Other (non-trade dress) types of non-traditional trademarks include hologram marks, motion marks, scent marks, sound marks, and taste marks.

A sound mark protects distinctive sound(s) associated with a brand. The sound mark must be used in connection with a good or a service and must distinctively identify that good or service as being offered by the brand owner. Commonplace sounds made in the “normal course of operation” may only be registered as a sound mark with proof of acquired distinctiveness (e.g., the sound over a long period of time has become distinctive and brand-identifying to the consuming public).

The first sound mark ever registered in the US was the NBC Chimes sound mark, first registered in April 1950 (abandoned trademark [1]), and the oldest still-active sound registration is an updated version of the NBC Chimes sound mark, registered in September 1971 (live trademark [2]).

Other long-lasting sound mark registrations include the Del's Lemonade & Refreshments sound mark, first registered in May 1984 [3], the MGM Roaring Lion sound mark, first registered in June 1986 [4], and the Harlem Globetrotters "Sweet Georgia Brown" sound mark, first registered in July 1992 [5].

Want to learn more about trademarks? Check out our posts on Introduction, Trademark Genericide, and the US TM Registration Process.