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, 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 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.