"QuadraPaws™", "QuadraPaws.com", "quadrapaws", the "4wheeler" symbol of the unnamed 4x4 under the QuadraPaws™ logotype, and the logotype including the 4wheeler symbol and the stylized representation of the word "QuadraPaws" are trademarks of The QuadraPaws™ 4x4 Club. The "4wheeler" symbol and the logotype are Copyright 1981-2000 QuadraPaws™ 4x4 Club
We have no intention of being a jerk about trademark issues, etc. but: We invented the name; We started the club and the website; We do all the work; We get to make the rules. As always: We don't enjoy making rules at all, and will make only as many as We feel are necessary for everybody to get along and have fun. Since QuadraPaws is our creation, We want to maintain some semblance of control over use of the name so that We have some recourse in the unlikely event that someone tries to use it in a way We find undesirable.
As we understand it, a trademark (as opposed to a Registered Trademark) is a common-law entity. It need not be registered, recorded, or governmentally-approved in any fashion to have the weight of legal enforceability. What it MUST have to be legally enforceable is _defense_. Meaning that the mark-holder must assert the trademark status; ask/demand that third parties using the mark do so with the mark-holder's permission; demand acknowledgement of the ownership by third parties via the ™ symbol and a notation of the mark-holder; and require that third parties using the mark in conjunction with their own products or meanings without permission must cease and desist.
So, the only way we retain control over the name without involving the government (the Registered Trademark thing), is to periodically remind people that it is a trademark and require that it be used by our standards and referring to our product, or with our permission. We give blanket permission to all QuadraPaws™ subscribers to use the trademark to refer to our Club and website. The proper form is shown previously - one word; capital Q and P. I'm not so very concerned about defending the mark in purely-electronic media, but that's why we periodically ramble on about this. Please forgive us for being tedious.
- Loxman