Al Johnson’s is a Swedish restaurant based in Sister Bay, Wisconsin. The restaurant building has a grass sod roof. And in the summer months, that roof is home to a herd of grazing goats.

What’s the first thing you notice when you see Dairy Queen soft-serve ice cream? Miraculously consistent at every location and across ice cream servings, the shape of the curl formed on the top of each soft-serve is a registered non-traditional trademark owned by Dairy Queen.

Nintendo was founded in 1889 in Kyoto, Japan, as a Japanese playing card manufacturing company. It wasn’t until the 1950s when the company made a bold pivot and expanded into making toys and amusement arcades.

What comes to mind when you see a Clydesdale horse? What about a Clydesdale horse in connection with the sale of beer? That’s right, the use of live Clydesdale horses in connection with the sale of beer is a registered trademark.

Darth Vader®, with his signature red Lightsaber®, is one of the most legendary and iconic villains in movie history. Equally iconic? Darth Vader’s trademark portfolio – let’s take a look!

The Kawasaki Jet Ski JS400 entered the market in 1973 and was an immediate hit. Unlike its predecessors, the Jet Ski personal watercraft was lightweight, maneuverable, and designed for high-performance water sports.

Gerber introduced the Gator® series of knives as part of its effort to create a high-performance knife line for outdoor and hunting enthusiasts. Of course, a defining feature of the Gator series is the iconic Gerber Gator Knife texture mark applied to the handle.

You sit down to watch some Saturday morning cartoons and the familiar Hanna-Barbera Star swirls on the screen. No matter the cartoon that was about to play, you knew you were in for some high-quality entertainment. Also known as the “Swirling Star” or the “Hanna-Barbera Rainbow,” the Hanna-Barbera Star motion mark is an iconic piece of animation and branding history.

The sport of table tennis first originated in England in the late 1800’s as a parlor game played by the upper class. Table tennis quickly caught on with the public and was marketed under a variety of wild brand names including Gossima, Whiff Waff, Parlour Tennis, Indoor Tennis, Pom-Pom, Pim-Pam, Netto, Clip-Clap, and of course Ping-Pong®.

In the early 1900s, Coca-Cola sought to create a new bottle that would stand out amidst its competitors. The winning design came from the Root Glass Company in Terre Haute, Indiana, creating a unique bottle shape inspired by the cocoa pod's shape and vertical ridges.

The color yellow in connection with plastic bats (“Wiffle Bat Yellow”) is a trademark of The Wiffle Ball, Inc. Believe it or not, Wiffle® Ball was originally played with wooden bats. In 1960 the first plastic bat featuring the Wiffle Bat Yellow color was introduced with a smooth handle having black electrical tape wrapped around it.

Did you know, the iconic Frappuccino® frozen coffee actually wasn’t created by Starbucks? Frappuccino® frozen coffee was first released by Coffee Connection, a small chain operating in Massachusetts.

Officially known as “The Clang” and sometimes also referred to by fans as “Chung-Chung,” the "Dun-Dun" sound on Law & Order was created by Mike Post, a prolific TV theme composer and sound designer, also known for his work on other successful TV shows, such as The A-Team, Hill Street Blues, and NYPD Blue.

Trademark “genericide” is a process where a once-distinctive trademark becomes so commonly used to refer to a general category of products or services that it loses its status as a protected trademark and becomes usable by anyone in the public.

Unlike conventional vehicle doors, the Lamborghini® scissor doors open upwards, and close downwards, in a vertical motion. The scissor doors hinge at the front of the door, near the base of the A-pillar, and rotate vertically upwards and downwards using a complex system of hinges and gas struts to ensure smooth and controlled operation.

The average person encounters 100s if not 1000s of trademarks every day (potentially exaggerated). Quick, how many trademarks do you see in the above image? For something we encounter on a daily basis, what even is a trademark?

The smell that instantly brings you back to childhood (or parenthood). Anyone who has played with, or cleaned up, PLAY-DOH® putty can still remember the smell of the putty in your hands, both before and long-after touching it.

Trademark law can be complicated, but the basics don’t have to be. Here are 5 more key facts about trademarks.