TradeMark Express Blog: All Things Trademark

Trademark News: Going Surfing! Huntington Beach IS Surf City USA ®

On May 9, 2006, the Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau was granted a Federal trademark for Surf City USA ®. Today it was announced that the Bureau will be licensing their trademark for a wide variety of usage, including clothing, credit unions and bicycles.

The possibilities this opens for other cities is quite wide. Adding the licensing of trademarks to a city's economic portfolio could create exciting and interesting waves of revenue, especially for smaller or less well-known cities.

Imagine if you will…

• South Coast Plaza ®, one of the premier shopping malls in the country, is located in Costa Mesa, CA. How about a slogan like, Where Orange County Shops

• Bonnaroo ® is a 4 day music festival held every year in Manchester, TN. Slogans like Manchester – We Rock or Manchester – We Jam. Even a somewhat obscure one like Manchester – A Really Good Time; Bonnaroo is a Cajun slang term for, you guessed it – a really good time.

Huntington Beach or rather Surf City USA ® may just be the first swell of a fantastic ride for cities and their trademarks.