Cartoon stick figure standing next to a chalkboard reading “Tony Awards” — representing a blog post about Tony Awards trademark registrations.

Trademark: TONY AWARDS

First Used: 1954

Registered: 1974

Current Owner: AMERICAN THEATRE WING, INC. [1]

Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark; non-traditional trademark; trade dress; configuration mark

Primarily Associated With: giving of dinners and the making of telecasts in connection with the recognition of distinguished achievement in the theatre [2]

Brief (and likely incomplete) History [3]:

The TONY AWARDS® [4] (or just TONY® [5] for short)) is an annual awards show recognizing outstanding achievements in theater (or theatre if you prefer). The awards show always brings out the biggest stars in the entertainment industry, some of whom may be trying to cap off, or start, an EGOT (EMMY®, GRAMMY®, OSCAR®, TONY®), or are coming off a win or nomination at the GOLDEN GLOBES®.

The first Tony Awards ceremony was held on April 6, 1947, in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. The awards were created by the American Theatre Wing to honor excellence in Broadway theatre and were named in honor of Antoinette “Tony” Perry, an actress, director, producer, and wartime leader of the American Theatre Wing who had died the year before. The first Tony Awards ceremony was a dinner event with dining, dancing, and entertainment. Winners originally received items like scrolls, compacts, cigarette lighters, jewelry, and money clips.

The Tony Awards ceremony was first broadcast on television in 1956, helping move the awards from a theatre-industry gathering into a wider entertainment event. The categories also became more formalized over time. The first ceremony did not have the familiar Best Play and Best Musical categories in the way modern viewers know them, but those awards soon became two of the ceremony’s centerpieces. Over the decades, the Tony Awards ceremony further expanded to recognize not only performers, writers, composers, and directors, but also choreography, design, orchestration, revivals, regional theatre, lifetime achievement, and other contributions to Broadway.

As of 2026, the Tony Awards include 26 competitive categories and remain focused on productions staged in eligible Broadway theatres. The most nominated production in Tony history is Hamilton, which earned 16 nominations in 2016. The most awarded production is The Producers, which won 12 Tony Awards in 2001, including Best Musical. The most decorated individual in Tony history is producer and director Harold Prince, who won 21 Tony Awards over his legendary Broadway career. And among performers, Audra McDonald stands alone with six competitive Tony wins, the most acting wins in Tony history, and the rare distinction of having won in all four acting categories.

The familiar Tony Awards trophy did not appear until 1949 when the United Scenic Artists sponsored a design contest in an effort to create a more formal award. The winning design came from Herman Rosse, an art director and scenic designer, whose disk-shaped medallion featured the comedy and tragedy masks on one side and a relief profile of Antoinette Perry on the other. The masks remain part of the trophy today, but the reverse side was later changed to include the winner’s name, category, production, and year. Since 1967, the medallion has been mounted on a black base, giving the Tony Awards its modern trophy form.

Officially known as the Antoinette Perry Award Medallion, the design and configuration of the trophy has become so well known today that it is protected by a non-traditional trademark registration (the Antoinette Perry Award Medallion configuration mark [6])!