Trademarked Sounds

The following sounds are registered as trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office:

1. The NBC Chimes – the world’s first registered soundmark, consisting of the notes G, E and C sounded in sequence in the key of C. The chimes pay tribute to the General Electric Company, one of the founders of NBC.

2. Sweet Georgia Brown – registered as a trademark of the Harlem Globetrotters

3. The MGM Lion Roar

4. Nine bars of primarily musical chords in the key of B Flat – Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

5. The spoken term ‘Cha-Ching’ – owned by Rally’s Hamburgers, Inc.

6. The words ‘the dreams we share, we’ll always remember, remember with the music of your life’, set to music – radio jingle owned by Al Ham Productions.

And here are a couple from Australia:

1. The sound of the word ‘sproing’ pronounced such that there is initially a rise in pitch at the ‘oi’ sound, which is then substantially elongated and pronounced with vibrato on the ‘oing’ portion of the word, so as to imitate the sound of a spring reverberating on metal – owned by Pacific Brands Clothing Pty Ltd, manufacturers of floor coverings and underlay.

2. ‘Yahoo’, sung in a yodelling style – owned by Yahoo, Inc. (Delaware).