Intellectual Reserve
Intellectual Reserve, Inc (IRI) is a non-profit corporation based in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Founded in 1997, it is wholly owned and operated by the Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It holds the church's intellectual property, including copyrights and trademarks.[1]
IRI owns over 60 trademarks associated with the church.[2]
Mormon as a trademark
In some countries, "Mormon" and some phrases including the term are registered trademarks owned by IRI.[3]
In 2002, the LDS Church applied for a trademark in the United States on "Mormon" as applied to religious services; however, the United States Patent and Trademark Office rejected the application, stating that the term "Mormon" was too generic and is popularly understood as referring to a particular kind of church, similar to "Presbyterian" or "Methodist", rather than a service mark.[4] The application was abandoned as of August 22, 2007.[5]
See also
References
- ^ "Rights and Use Information". lds.org. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
- ^ "Intellectual Reserve, Inc". Trademarkia. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
- ^ For example, "Mormon Tabernacle Choir" is registered as United States Federal TM Reg. No. 2766231, and "Mormon" is registered in the European Community serial number EC004306701, registered July 6, 2006
- ^ "Offc Action Outgoing" (Application number 78161091). Trademark Document Retrieval (TDR). United States Patent and Trademark Office. November 1, 2005. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
- ^ "Latest Status Info" (Federal TM Ser. No. 78161091). Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR). United States Patent and Trademark Office. August 22, 2007. Retrieved 2010-05-21.