Wikipedia:Manual of Style (trademarks)
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This page is part of the Manual of Style, and is considered a guideline for Wikipedia. The consensus of many editors formed the conventions described here, and Wikipedia articles should heed these guidelines. Before making any major changes to these guidelines, please use the discussion page to ensure that your changes reflect consensus. |
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[edit] General rules
- Capitalize trademarks, as with proper names.
- Avoid use of trademarks as a noun except where any other usage would be awkward:
- Follow standard English text formatting and capitalization rules even if the trademark owner encourages special treatment:
- Do not use the ™ and ® symbols, or similar, unless they are necessary for context (for instance to distinguish between generic and brand names for drugs).
- Avoid using special characters that are not pronounced, are included purely for decoration, or simply substitute for English words (e.g. ♥ used for "love"). In the article about a trademark, it is acceptable to use decorative characters the first time the trademark appears, but thereafter, an alternative that follows the standard rules of punctuation should be used:
- avoid: Macy*s, [ yellow tail ]
- instead, use: Macy's, Yellow Tail
- Trademarks in CamelCase are a judgement call. CamelCase may be used where it reflects general usage and makes the trademark more readable:
- OxyContin or Oxycontin — editor's choice
[edit] Trademarks which begin with a lowercase letter
Trademarks which officially begin with a lowercase letter raise several problems because they break the normal capitalization rules of English that trademarks, as proper nouns, are written with initial capital letters, both in the middle of a sentence, like other proper nouns, but also at the beginning of a sentence, like any word. The following guidelines represent a consensus compromise between respecting the preferred treatment of the trademark owner and respecting the rules of standard written English.
- Lowercased trademarks with no internal capitals should always be capitalized:
- avoid: thirtysomething is a television show that may have been sponsored by adidas, but not by craigslist, because it was over before craigslist existed.
- instead, use: Thirtysomething is a television show that may have been sponsored by Adidas, but not by Craigslist, because it was over before Craigslist existed.
- Lowercased trademarks with internal capitals do not need to be capitalized if the second letter is capitalized:
- But, if possible, rephrase to avoid beginning sentences with such trademarks:
- He bought his iPod on eBay.
[edit] The use of graphic logos
Product logos and corporate logos, such as the stylized rendition of the word Dell used by Dell, Inc., can be used once in the infobox or corner of articles about the related product, service, or company.
Many companies claim copyright over their logos, though their use in an encyclopedia article may be considered fair use. Simple logos that consist of mere text may not be eligible for being copyrighted. Please tag logo images with {{logo}}.
Don't use the trademark in the text instead of the company name.
