Cartoon stick figure holding a yellow conducted electrical weapon and pointing it at a chalkboard with “TASER” written in large chalk letters — representing a blog post about the TASER word mark trademark registration.

Trademark: TASER

First Used: 1974

Registered: 2007

Current Owner: AXON ENTERPRISE, INC. [1]

Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark

Primarily Associated With: less-lethal electronic weaponry, namely, launchers for wire-tethered darts [2]

Generic Phrase: conducted electrical weapon, as in TASER® brand conducted electrical weapon

Also A Trademark For: computer services [3], providing an on-line computer database [4], educational services [5], clothing [6], training manuals [7], battery chargers and protective clothing [8], athletic bags [9], video game software [10], flashlights [11], shooting targets [12], stickers and decals [13], downloadable virtual reality software [14], on-line retail store services [15], entertainment services and providing online non-downloadable videos [16], providing entertaining and educational live role-playing simulations [17], and many more

Brief (and likely incomplete) History [18]:

In the 1960s, nuclear physicist and NASA scientist Jack Cover sought to solve a problem: there was an increasing number of airline hijackings around the world, but armed officers onboard were fearful that discharging a firearm during flight carried too much risk. After reading about a man who was temporarily immobilized when accidentally walking into an electrified fence, Cover was inspired to experiment in his garage with using electricity as a less-lethal weapon. The modern conducted electrical weapon (CEW) was born, and Cover branded it TASER® after his childhood favorite book Tom Swift and his Electric Rifle (the "A" was later added for easier pronunciation).

The first TASER CEW was shaped like a flashlight and used gunpowder to launch two wire-tethered projectiles. Unfortunately for Cover, the use of gunpowder led the ATF to classify the new device as a Title II firearm, which severely hampered sales to law enforcement and civilians.

That all changed in the early 1990s. Brothers Rick and Tom Smith were searching for improvements in less-lethal technology after former high school football teammates were killed in a senseless act of road-rage violence. They contacted Jack Cover and began designing a new TASER CEW that used compressed nitrogen to deploy the projectiles instead of gunpowder, thus avoiding the ATF firearm classification. In 1994, the AIR TASER 34000 was released, first available to consumers via The Sharper Image catalogue.

It took a few years, but in the early 2000s sales of the new TASER CEW finally took off at law enforcement agencies in the US and around the world. Since the release of the Air TASER in 1994, Axon has continued to advance less-lethal technology, including with the release of its latest generation CEW, the TASER 10 CEW, in 2023. Today, TASER CEWs are so ubiquitous on police duty belts in the US and around the world that even its iconic yellow color is a registered trademark (known as Axon Yellow).

Graphic depicting conducted electrical weapon technology vs. stun gun technology

This probably isn’t a surprise, but this technology is CONSTANTLY depicted inaccurately in pop culture, typically conflating a stun gun with a conducted electrical weapon and exaggerating the effects. So what is the difference?

CEW technology has gone by a variety of generic names over the years. Axon currently uses the phrase “energy weapon,” but “conducted electrical weapon” is the accepted phrase in the USPTO trademark identification manual and the technical phrase typically used in patent filings. In other countries it is also known as an “electronic control device (ECD),” among other phrases.

A CEW remotely launches wire-tethered projectiles (i.e., at a distance from a target). An electrical circuit is formed when the projectiles impact and connect to a person, and the CEW provides an electrical current through the projectiles that cause the person’s muscles to lock up, usually for a period of 5 seconds (“neuromuscular incapacitation”). Once the 5 seconds are up, the person regains control of their muscles and body.

A stun gun generates an electrical arc between two metal terminals. The loud electrical popping sound can be scary alone, or the electrical arc can be physically pressed against a person’s body to cause pain (it hurts when electricity contacts your skin!).

Neither technology knocks you out or puts you to sleep (looking at you, every movie and tv show where a stun gun magically makes someone unconscious [19]).

Special shoutout: TASER® may be the most iconic brand name in law enforcement. Axon hosts a top tier brand website to match (maybe second only to the brand website for VELCRO®), with educational content that helps curb risks of trademark genericide while also providing a fantastic historical reference. Check it out at https://www.axon.com/taser-brand.