Trademark Usage Guidelines

1. Overview

GMO Internet Group, Inc. has established guidelines for the use of trademarks held by the company to prevent inappropriate usage both in commercial activity online and in the physical world.

All GMO Internet Group, Inc. trademarks, including service marks (hereafter "our trademarks" ) are the property of GMO Internet Group, Inc. Please adhere to these guidelines in order to ensure the appropriate use of our trademarks. On June 1, 2005 the company changed its trading name from Global Media Online Inc. (hereafter Global Media Online), to GMO Internet Group, Inc. Please note that Global Media Online remains a registered trademark of GMO Internet Group, Inc.

2. Trademark Usage

(1) Acknowledgement of Trademark

When referring to GMO Internet Group, Inc. products in advertising material, press materials, and other documents the source of the product should be clearly indicated. The following text should be placed in fine print at the bottom of relevant documents;
Eg) INTERQ is a registered trademark of GMO Internet Group, Inc.
If space does not permit the following text may be used;
Eg) All other product and service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

(2) Reproduction of Trademarks

GMO Internet Group, Inc. trademark logos and figures may not be in anyway altered, edited, added to or used in part except under special contract with GMO Internet Group, Inc.
GMO Internet Group, Inc. product and service names must be presented in a consistent manner; spelling, punctuation and style must not be altered. Specifically the following usage is prohibited:

  • Use as a generic name or as an adjective.
  • Use as a plural or possessive form.
  • Use of other words, symbols or numbers incorporated into a trademark.
  • Use of a trademark hyphenated or represented as part of another word.
  • Shortening or abbreviation of a trademark.
  • Representing a trademark using lower case letters in place of capital letters.

(3) Trademark Symbol

Whenever our trademarks are used in any form of media the ® or ™(hereafter "trademark symbols" ) must be attached the first time they appear in a text. However in the case that one passage of text containing our trademark is more prominent than others, the trademark symbol should be attached to the prominent passage. The trademark symbol should be attached to logos and figures each time they appear.
The ® symbol should be attached to all trademarks registered with patent offices or other government institutions in relevant countries. ™should be attached to all unregistered trademarks. Please be sure not to attach ® to any trademarks other than registered trademarks.
Trademark rights differ from country to country. In some countries unauthorized use of trademarks is a serious criminal or civil affairs matter. Please be sure to check whether a trademark is registered in a particular country before attaching the registered trademark symbol on materials intended for that country. Please contact our patent rights representative if you are unsure about the registration status of a trademark

The trademark symbol should be attached either above or below the trademark. When this is not possible the letters (TM), (SM), or (R) should appear in brackets after the trademark.

Specifically;

  • Use in advertisements etc. (press releases, notes, white papers, memos, slides, OHP sheets, videos and other forms of multi media)
    Appropriate trademark symbols ( ® or ™) should be attached to the trademark wherever it appears most prominently (usually the headline). It should also be attached to each trademark the first time it appears in the main text.
  • Use within diagrams and tables
    Appropriate trademark symbols ( ® or ™) should be attached to our trademarks on each page, slide or OHP sheet.
  • Use in magazines etc.
    Appropriate trademark symbols ( ® or ™) should be attached to our trademarks the first time they appear in the contents, anytime they appear in a headline and the first time they appear in each article.
  • Brochures etc. (reports, novels, technical writing and other bound publications)
    Appropriate trademark symbols ( ® or ™) should be attached to our trademarks the first time they appear in the contents, anytime they appear in a headline and the first time they appear in the main text. The appropriate trademark symbol should also be attached in charts and diagrams.

3. Restriction of Use without Consent and Inappropriate Use

Usage of our trademarks without a licensing agreement or in a manner that is likely to cause confusion or misunderstanding is prohibited. Usage that is likely to disadvantage the company is also prohibited.

Specifically the following uses are prohibited;

  • Use as part of another service, product, trademark‚ logo or company name.
  • Use that wrongly implies affiliation, partnership‚ backing or agreement with GMO Internet Group, Inc., use that implies authorship by a member of our staff or that misleadingly represents an opinion as that of GMO Internet Group, Inc.
  • Use on a web site that contains adult content‚ encourages gambling‚ sells tobacco or alcohol to minors or includes other content prohibited by law.
  • Use that invites misunderstanding of our company policy‚ or projects an unfavorable image including content that is slanderous, defamatory‚ is an infringement of rights or contains obscene language.
  • Use on a web site that violates the law.

4. Use on a web site that violates the law.

These guidelines are intended for GMO Internet Group, Inc. customers, licensees, consultants, distributors and other parties outside the company. Licensees should follow these guidelines when no other guidelines have been specified.

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