Contents
Cal Poly Pomona

Guideline for use of trademarks on the Cal Poly Pomona Web

Introduction

The purpose of this guideline is to assist web developers and web content providers in the csupomona.edu domain to:

  1. avoid trademark infringement.
  2. prevent the explicit or inadvertent use of a trademark to advertise, endorse, or promote the business interest of the trademark holder, except as provided in contractual obligations of the university.
  3. promote good editorial practice in the use of trademarks.

Trademarks as text

Words that are trademarks are in everyday use (Microsoft, Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, Pepsi). These words can refer to companies or their products, and they can even be used generically (Kleenex, Xerox, Band-Aid), even to the extent that they may lose trademark status (aspirin).
Best practices on the Web are the same as in print publications: Trademarked names should be used where appropriate and accurate to identify companies and products. An example of stylistic guidelines for use of trademarks can be found at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style_%28trademarks%29).
Words that are trademarks should not normally be linked, either to their respective companies’ sites or to any other site. There are exceptions:

  1. When products play an integral role in either the construction of a web page or in the subjects or processes described on a web page, and it could be expected that the reader might want additional information, the products or companies may be linked by their trademarked names.
  2. Trademarked names may be used to link to commercial sites to enable the reader to obtain specialized products. Please keep in mind that individuals may not use web pages in the csupomona.edu domain for commercial purposes, so such links may not be used if they provide financial benefit.

Trademarks as graphics

Trademark graphics may be logotypes—a word or words (trademarked or not) displayed in a specific typeface, arrangement, and color—or they may be logos, in which the graphical elements outweigh or completely replace the words. Trademark graphics, like any other graphic arts, are protected by copyright upon their creation, whether or not the copyright is registered.
There are only a few circumstances in which trademarks of organizations other than Cal Poly Pomona should be displayed on web pages in the csupomona.edu domain:

  1. Any trademarks, whether they are registered, copyrighted, or not, may be used for purposes of scholarship, criticism, or parody, as provided by the Fair Use provisions of United States trademark law. These should never be links, either to their respective PDFDOCowners or to any other web pages.
  2. Graphics indicating file formats, even if they are trademarks, may be used to
    1. indicate the file type of a download.
    2. link to a site for downloading a plugin for viewing the software on the web.
  3. Trademarks of the Cal Poly Pomona Foundation, ASI, the California State University, and other CSU campuses may be used as links to their respective web sites. Care should be taken to choose graphics that are recommended by the respective organizations for web use, if they are available.
  4. Trademarks of any organization may be displayed on a Cal Poly Pomona web page in compliance with the requirements of any grant, contract, or agreement between the trademark owner and either Cal Poly Pomona or the Cal Poly Pomona Foundation. These may be linked or not, as specified by the grant, contract, or agreement.

Trademark graphics should never be used as decoration on a web page.

Trademarks used in endorsement

Any employee or student of Cal Poly Pomona is free to endorse any product or company. If such endorsements appear on web pages in the csupomona.edu domain,

  1. It is imperative in all cases that the web page make clear that the endorsement is the opinion of an individual, and not an endorsement by Cal Poly Pomona.
  2. Neither the individual making the endorsement nor any other individual may receive any recompense, monetary or otherwise, for the endorsement.
  3. Endorsements are expected to relate to the educational mission of the university: a recommendation for BioQuip over Carolina insect nets would be appropriate on the web page of an entomology course, but a recommendation for Coke over Pepsi on the same page is inappropriate (although the latter might be appropriate on a personal page).
  4. Although it is expected that an endorsement will contain trademark names in text, it is inappropriate to use trademark graphics for this purpose.

 

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