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Two sailing enthusiasts, Thomas Guy and Chris Jacobs, have developed an app for fellow sailors, allowing them to capture their experience in one place. SailTies brand has instantly become loved by the sailing community and naturally, its founders have smartly focused on brand protection through trademark registration from the very start! Read the full story of turning a sailing hobby into the beloved app.

By definition, a trademark needs to display sufficient distinctiveness to identify the origin and ownership of the products and services. That means generic and descriptive words should be avoided at all costs. The landmark case in United States PTO v. Booking.com B.V, however, proves that a generic term combined with “.com” or another top-level domain can be registered as a trademark if there is sufficient evidence of consumer recognition.

#KimOhNo became a symbol of the backlash to Kim Kardashian’s attempt to register a trademark for her new line of shape wear, Kimono.