Can I legally use the term “Swiss Army Knife” as a part of a slogan for my software company in the US?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “swiss army knife with name“
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Can I legally use the term “Swiss Army Knife” as a part of a slogan for my software company in the US?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “swiss army knife with name“
About Camila
You are probably safe since several companies produce “Swiss army knives”. Victorinox seems to be the largest and best known producer, but has no rights or control over the usage of the name. You may also use Swiss cheese, Swiss Alps, Swiss chocolate and possibly “Swiss Miss” (it may still be within a rights retention period). So, it is uncertain who would sue you if you used that term.
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Yes, you can. What we usually call the “Swiss Army Knife” is made by the Victorinox company.
It’s a similar situation to:
Calling facial tissues, Kleenex
Glass cleaner, Windex
But in the reverse-order.
As an alternative, I would not recommend you use the term “Leatherman” since it’s a company name, but it would be legal to use “multi-tool.”
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You can use it as an adjective , yes, since the term has become somewhat synonymous with anything considered a multipurpose tool, including electronic, digital and other IP products… So you could say, “We are a Swiss Army Knife of streamlined digital software solutions”, or something equally cringeworthy, if you like. Plenty of self-help books have done the same, though it’s annoying if you’re browsing for books on actual Swiss Army Knives!
Either way, I’d suggest avoiding doing it, though, as it’s way too much of a cliche these days.
However, it’s if you make an actual multi-purpose knife, you cannot then call it a Swiss Army Knife, unless the Swiss Army contract you for some, and you then secure a copyright/trademark on the term.
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This is a trademark question. Ideally you take trademark questions to a lawyer.
But you can do these steps yourself:
Check the USPTO database to see if this is already trademarked in your class of business. (I did the search for you: http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=toc&state=4807%3At4jiud.1.1&p_search=searchss&p_L=50&BackReference=&p_plural=yes&p_s_PARA1=&p_tagrepl~%3A=PARA1%24LD&expr=PARA1+AND+PARA2&p_s_PARA2=Swiss+Army+Knife&p_tagrepl~%3A=PARA2%24COMB&p_op_ALL=AND&a_default=search&a_search=Submit+Query&a_search=Submit+Query )
If it is not registered in your class of business, you only have to worry about whether the known product is so well known that it could be classified as a “famous mark”. Disney and Coca-Cola are so well known any use of their trademark at all would be thought of by most people as connected with their brand. You have to ask if Swiss Army Knife is a famous mark, and I am sorry to say, it might be.
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You can claim that your product is LIKE “a swiss Army knife” but you cannot say it IS “the swiss Army knife” as that is a trademark. One is simply a description and the other is a trademark violation. ONLY THE Swiss Army Knife is a Swiss Army knife.
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