Trademark Status
Realtor is a frequently used word in many countries to describe any person or company involved in the real estate trade, regardless of their NAR status or American residence. However, in the United States, the National Association of Realtors in 1949 and 1950 obtained registrations for the words "REALTOR" and "REALTORS" as collective trade marks.
In 2003, Jacob Zimmerman, a student who was not a member of NAR, petitioned the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel the trademarks, on the ground that "REALTOR" and "REALTORS" were generic terms rather than a trademark. On March 31, 2004, the USPTO's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board denied the petition but left it open for appeal.
Read more about this topic: National Association Of Realtors
Famous quotes containing the word status:
“Anthropologists have found that around the world whatever is considered “men’s work” is almost universally given higher status than “women’s work.” If in one culture it is men who build houses and women who make baskets, then that culture will see house-building as more important. In another culture, perhaps right next door, the reverse may be true, and basket- weaving will have higher social status than house-building.”
—Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen. Excerpted from, Gender Grace: Love, Work, and Parenting in a Changing World (1990)