Tattooists what about trade marking your tattoos?

10 December 2003

Tattooists what about trade marking your tattoos?

According to the Tattoo club of Great Britain tattooing has always been popular, more so in the
past ten years or so. Especially with the new generation of rock bands many who are heavily
tattooed. Tattooing has not changed a lot since the introduction of the electric tattoo machine
about 100 years ago. A design is first drawn or placed on the skin with a transfer and the line
drawn around with a machine not unlike a small sewing machine which injects the ink under the
skin. Like painters tattoo artists use different shape and numbers of needles for different jobs.

So what about trade marking tattoos? This question generates two other questions:

� What would be the advantages to trade mark tattoos?

‚ Can tattoos be registered as trade mark in the UK?

Advantages to trade mark tattoos

Under the UK Trade Marks Act 1994 (the Act), a trade mark is defined as any sign capable of (1)
being represented graphically which is (2) capable of distinguishing goods or services of one
undertaking from those of other undertakings. A trade mark may, in particular, consist of words
(including personal names), designs, letters, numerals or the shape of goods or their packaging.
Provided a sign fulfils these conditions ((1) and (2) and the other legal requirements laid down
in the Act) it can be registered as trade mark.

Once registered a trade mark offers its owner the exclusive right to use it and the right to
prevent unauthorised uses through an action for infringement. Proceedings to enforce this
exclusive right may be brought as soon as the trade mark is registered. Trade mark protection
lasts for 10 years renewable (provided the renewal fees are paid and the other conditions for its
maintenance laid down by the Act are fulfilled). Consequently trade mark protection can last
almost for ever!

Clearly trade mark protection is stronger and far more efficient than copyright protection when
one seeks to enforce their rights. A trade mark can be licensed or assigned which is another way
for the owner of the mark to make money out of the trade mark.

Registering tattoos in the UK

So far no tattoo has ever been registered with the UK Patent Office, the body charged with
registering trade marks in the UK. Actually there is only one example of tattoo trade mark
registration worldwide. The first ever tattoo to be trade marked was registered on 5 November 2002
in the US and belonged to Elayne Angel.

Elayne Angel is a Master Piercer and owner of ‘Rings of Desire’ body piercing specialty studio.
She is personally credited with inventing, naming, and popularizing a number of specific piercing
techniques and placements, such as fourchette and lorum among others. Ms. Angel is also know for
her own body art work, especially her internationally recognised black and grey angel wings
tattooed by Bob Roberts, at ‘Spotlight Tattoo’ in Los Angeles, in 1987. These angel wings are also
famous for being the first ever registered tattoo. Under registration number 2645270 the wings
have been registered as a service mark as regards body piercing services. On the advice of her
attorney she even had the encircled ‘R’ tattooed on her right buttock (click here to see the
picture).

While her lawyer, Peter K. Trzyna, at first thought about the idea of copyrighting Elayne Angel’s
tattoo he decided to register it with the US Trademark Office to better protect her business. The
process took all in all six years and set a precedent in US law. According to him “if one used a
photograph of Elayne’s tattoo in connection with, say, a web site on piercing books, this might
suggest that the web site was in some way connected or associated with Elayne so as to cause
confusion, mistake, or deceit”.

Comments

Technically tattoos could be registered in the UK, as say service marks, since they fulfil the two
basic conditions laid down by the Act to register a sign as a trade mark: capable of being
represented graphically and capable of distinguishing goods or services of one undertaking from
those of other undertakings.

There is always a first time! So if you have a tattoo and want to protect it because you feel it
is special, go for trade mark registration. The Lawdit team will be happy to advise and assist you.

MP

For more information contact info@lawdit.co.uk