Guidelines Regarding the Use of the Registered Marks

   

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From time to time the pages of this newsletter have been employed as a means to communicate information about legal matters associated with the work of URANTIA Foundation such as discussions of the use of our registered marks, copyright and sometimes lawsuits which the Foundation has been compelled to undertake. And, while many readers of this newsletter have expressed appreciation that we have shared this information, other readers have indicated a sense of discomfort when consideration onegal matters has been presented.We appreciate and understand this latter point of view: however. as legal matters are a necessary and unavoidable aspect of the Foundation's functions, we believe it is important that you be informed about these matters to the extent we are able to do so in the brief format of this newsletter.

On this occasion we wish to address the matter of the use of our registered marks, the word URANTIA, and the Concentric-Circles Symbol. Periodically, we receive inquiries regarding the use of the registered marks. and we would like to take this opportunity to offer some guidelines to assist readers in understanding how the marks may and may not be used.

It is true that the word URANTIA and the Concentric-Circles Symbol have their foundation in The URANTIA Book. However, both the word URANTIA and the Symbol, have, through many years of continuous and exclusive use, become well-established as badges of identification for the goods and services provided by URANTIA Foundation and its licensees. URANTIA Brotherhood and its chartered URANTIA Societies (all of which are collectively referred to as the official organization). Given the Significance of the word URANTIA and the Symbol, and the identification function they have come to serve so well, they should be and are protected against misuse in some self-serving, commercial. or even degrading way by others.

As concerns the word URANTIA, while only the licensed official URANTIA organizations are entitled to use the word (and its derivations such as URANTIAN) as a service mark and/or a trademark (URANTIA Brotherhood), or as a service mark and/or collective membership mark (URANTIA Brotherhood and its chartered URANTIA Societies), it is fairly common and totally proper to make a written mention of the registered mark URANTIA when referring to names of the organizations such as URANTIA Foundation. URANTIA Brotherhood, a URANTIA Society, or in mentioning the title of the book. This is often done in newsletters, written speeches, programs, and so forth.

We are distinguishing here between two kinds of use:

1. Use of the mark or the like as an identifier of a service or a product originating from or apparently approved by URANTIA Foundation. URANTIA Brotherhood. or one of its chartered Societies. This is not allowed without express license of URANTIA Foundation. These affiliated organizations may use the word URANTIA as an adjective in their names, and in other ways permitted by the Licensing Agreement. Uses not specifically authorized in the Licensing Agreement can be submitted to URANTIA Foundation for consideration conSistent with a broad range of policy and other considerations.

2. Simply referring to the names of URANTIA organizations, which include the registered mark URANTIA, as in an informative text of one kind or another - or which do not imply the approval of those organizations or affiliation with those organizations. These are allowed without the need for prior permission.

We have noted that some, in preparing written materials, are unclear regarding those instances in which the word represents the name of the planet and those wherein it is the registered mark. and whether to use the upper or lower case form in these various instances. The lower case, Urantia, should be used only to refer to the planet and then in such a manner that it cannot reasonably be construed as a registered mark usage. In such usage, we ask that the word "planet" or "world" be used whenever possible before the word "URANTIA" because it makes it more clear that it is not being used as a registered mark. In any other instance, the upper case, URANTIA, should be used.

Perhaps the simplest rule to determine whether to write "Urantia" or" URANTIA" is that Urantia is always a noun referring to the planet. URANTIA is virtually always an adjective modifying a noun.

The following are correct and incorrect usages:

Incorrect	Correct
I live on URANTIA	I live on the planet Urantia
the geography of URANTIA	the geography of our world Urantia

The following are commonly used terms, all of which take the upper case form to denote the trademark or service mark URANTIA, or a trade name usage of URANTIA in conjuction with another word:

URANTIA Activities	URANTIA Foundation	URANTIA movement
URANTIA Service	URANTIA Brotherhood	URANTIA organizations
URANTIA publication	First URANTIA Society	the URANTIA Papers

The URANTIA Book

Also note that "The" is part of the title of The URANTIA Book. When naming a study group, it is permissible to call it "North Pole Study Group of Students of The URANTIA Book." but not "URANTIA Study Group of the North Pole." The title of The URANTIA Book should be either italicized as it is in this newsletter, or underlined when it is typed or handwritten.

As is the case with the word URANTIA, the use of the Concentric-Circles Symbol is restricted to URANTIA Foundation and the licensed official URANTIA organizations. The necessary limitations of the use of the Symbol by individuals or nonlicensed groups is difficult for some to accept because the design of the Symbol so easily lends itself to jewelry and other personal expressions of loyalty to these supernal teachings and to our universe. Although each person's private use of the Symbol is not something we could ever hope or even want to control, we do ask that you do not display publicly your personal use of the Symbol, especially at large gatherings except, of course, for the pins bearing the Symbol which are available to members of URANTIA Brotherhood. it is important to those organizations licensed to use the Symbol that the Symbol not become so commonly used that it would become lost to us as an identifier and then be used by any group for whatever purposes. We truly appreciate your cooperation regarding the use of the Symbol and trust you realize that your restraint is helping to build the strong foundation that future generations will thank us for.