“SEO” Trademarked?

Could SEO companies soon lose the right to call themselves SEO companies? If a man named Jason Gambert has his way, the answer is yes.

Mr. Gambert claims in his application (which was rejected several times before finally being accepted for publication) that SEO is defined as a “process”, and not a service. Thus, he is claiming that he has the right to trademark it as a service. SEO as a “process” would remain free for general use, not that it would matter.

The only problem he faces is that SEO has indeed been a service for over ten years, and thousands of companies can demonstrate prior use of the mark as a service (including my own). The chances of him actually getting the trademark are close to nil.On his blog, Mr. Gambert claims that he is trademarking the term for the good of the industry, and that he will enforce certain standards that companies will have to meet in order to use the term “SEO”. To which the industry replied “Who the hell is Jason Gambert, and what are his qualifications?” The answer to this question has yet to be answered, but many doubt his claimed altruism and believe that ultimately, it’s about the money that can be made by licensing the term.

Even if his stated plans are true, good intentions have no bearing on whether or not a trademark is granted. It’s my understanding that many opposing documents have already been filed, and it will then be up to Mr. Gambert to answer to people that have a much more legitimate claim to the term than he does.

For a detailed history of this saga, please visit http://www.seomoz.org/blog/pulling-a-fast-one-a-clever-internet-marketer-is-trying-to-trademark-seo

source :http://seo.site-reference.com