Trademarked Phrases You Can't Use For Print On Demand Apparel

when you're creating your t-shirt designs to sell on places like Amazon or Etsy you need to be careful about the phrases that you put on your shirt and I'm going to share with you 15 super common catchphrases and phrases we use all the time that you probably shouldn't be using on your t-shirts cuz I'd hate for something to get flagged or taken down so let's get started with phrase number one which is good vibes only now I used a website called USPTO which is specific for the US but generally if there are us companies that have trademark specific words no matter where you're selling they may find it and they may flag it especially if it's something like Etsy now I also used a couple of other tools and I'll link them down below so you can check your own phrases to make sure that they're good to go what happens when you search in this tool is either live or dead trademarks are kind of come up for this word or if you're trying to search for a visual I just did the words it's going to show you how many records whether there alive or dead trademarks and that way you can kind of figure out is this okay to use for this shirt sometimes the use case will be specific for all of these 15 phrases I check specifically a perel trademark so I don't know if it's specific to hats or shirts or jeans or whatever that's up to you to go and find on your own but just in Apparel in general I would probably advise going against putting that on your t-shirts for your print on demand shop so number two is live your best life so this is said all of the time I'm sure my friends have said it in the last week or something like that and it can be very tempting to just slap that on the shirt with an illustration or something like that but there's two things to keep in mind one there's tons of Records out for live trademarks for this phrase as well as there's tons of people already probably selling this specific phrase and they may have already asked for the trademark so there's two fold here one you may get flagged for trademark two you're competing with other people that have already asp permission to use this so it's probably a good idea to not put life your best life on a shirt now if you're doing something personal or you're screen printing at home for like a pop-up shop I don't know how anyone would know but if you're going to list it on places like Etsy or Amazon or even online on your Shopify store would probably advise against it number three is Life's good or life is good both of those phrases are trademarked and I'm pretty sure that's LG's tagline so I would definitely advise against it however tempting it is is to put Life's good on a t-shirt again there are live apparel trademarks out for that now this can be updated every single day even in this list in the span of time of you watching this video I always encourage you to go and check out on the USPTO site to see if maybe the trademarks are no longer valid meaning if you see the little dead symbol you're good to go you're good to put it on your shirt but generally I would advise not putting Life's good or life is good on your shirt number four is the phrase that's hot there are records there are live trademarks for that's hot in that order on a shirt which as upsetting as that may be just try to change that phrase around if that's the style or the niche you're going with phrase number five is let's roll let apostrophe s roll this was trademarked due to a scenario I believe that had to do with uh piloting as for what I could research but the important part for you is that there was a company that trademarked this phrase specifically for Merch and to my knowledge recently looking it up it is still active so I would probably advise against Let's Roll Just in that order with just those two words on a shirt number six is a super obvious one which is just do it Nike obviously has that on lock you can't use it in any way no way no how it's unfortunate because it attaches to everything whether it's sports or gaming or just getting up and doing something but will have to advise against using just do it on your shirts number seven is definitely an upsetting one it's because you're worth it that is such a great motivational phrase but there are companies with live trademarks for this phrase in that order for apparel so be thinking of different ways that you can take the phrase because you're worth it and maybe change it maybe change the structure of the words to say the same thing or convey the same meaning but I would advise against using that on your t-shirts specifically in that order number eight is dream big now there are a number of different records and a number of different trademarks for this one so if the idea you're wanting to get across is something about dreaming then try to think about a couple of different other creative ways that you can use this phrase on your T-shirt as opposed to just using dream big number nine staying in the dream category is dream on so that is another another one with a long list of Records specifically for merchandise now of course if you want to attach onto that phrase dream on or if you want to put something before the words dream on then of course that would be considered okay again always check the websites to make sure whether or not the trademarks are alive or dead and specifically what they're for if you're trying to sell a specific type of merch number 10 is another motivational one which is be your own hero I have definitely seen that before and I've definitely heard it before but just like because you're worth it try to find another motivational phrase that's in that same vein that conveys the same thing without using those exact words be your own hero so that you don't run into any issues with maybe your Etsy listing being flagged or your Amazon listing taken down or Worse getting a cease and assist or something like that number 11 is make today amazing so that is a phrase that is also trademark with a bunch of different Records On on a variety of different products not just apparel so if you're going with this kind of motivational daily uh quotes Vibe then try to pick a different style of words that again convey the same meaning number 12 for all of you outdoor or Adventure enthusiasts you will be upset to know that Adventure awaits is a trademarked phrase by a slew of obviously outdoor and Hiking Brands so that phrase specifically by itself ADV inure awaits could run you into a lot of problems if you try to list a shirt or a hat or some kind of apparel with just Adventure awaits so advice is to take that theme and try to mix it so that the same message comes across just with a different amount of words number 13 is one of my personal favorites which is rise and grind I hear that a lot especially from a variety of influencers on Instagram or YouTube but that phrase specifically is trademarked by a couple of different companies now again you could always reach out and try to get permission to use that phrase in for whatever type of product or whatever type of style that you're trying to use but the words in that order rise and grind have been trademarked always be sure to go check to see whether it's live or dead number 14 is another adventury style one which is Wild and Free again it has been tra trademark by a couple of different outdoorsy and Hiking Brands so we're going to have to say take Wild and Free that concept and change up the words maybe add words take words away so that you convey the same message but try not to put just wild and free with some sort of illustration on your shop number 15 is another unfortunate one but the words stay cozy have been trademarked so you're going to want to try to take that theme and change it around uh so that the same message comes across on on your shirt without just using the words stay cozy now again when these phrases are trademarked there's always an ending point where they stop being trademarked for whatever contract so a couple of things that you can do is always go and check the website listed down below to see whether the trademark is alive or dead when it might run out how you could get in touch how you could get access or permission to use the trademarks and as well you can look further into the trademark agreement itself to see whether whether or not it's okay for you to use it in a specific shirt setting depending on where you're going to sell it how you're going to sell it what it looks like things like that so always be aware that this can go as granular or as simple as you want to but my advice is always going to be if you type something in the search bar and there are live records for that phrase I would probably advise against using it and by the way of course all major phrases from companies like Disney or the Harry Potter franchise or the Super Bowl or anything like that is off limits I cannot suggest that you use any of those phrases any of the companies described in any of those movies or anything like that I'm going to have to advise against using all of those on your shirt designs but you can still get creative with how you make things via fan art uh just always make sure to look up on the websites whether something is fair game to use or whether there is a live trademark on it because the worst thing for you would be getting your listings taken down or getting an email saying they're going to shut your website down or something like that so we don't want that for you so always do your research I hope this video has been helpful if you have found that there are more common phrases that you want to share make sure you list them down in the comments so we can all know the common phrases that we shouldn't be using on t-shirts or if you found that one of these phrases that I provided with you is fair game and you can use it then also describe that down in the comments and make sure you explain why it's okay for us to use it maybe the trademark is now null and void or maybe it's just about the way that you use it that would be super helpful so make sure you comment down below and join the Discord so that you can meet other print on demand and other t-shirt makers and sellers to get their best tips and practices make sure you don't forget to subscribe to KD and you will be updated on all things happening here on the channel thanks so much for watching and we'll see you in the next video now if you want to see other tutorials using KD I have these videos here on my right that I know you're going to enjoy don't forget to subscribe to the channel so you don't miss any upcoming videos and features and things like that thank you so much for watching and I will see you in the next video

Channel: Kittl

Views: 43,823

Keywords: kittl, kittl design, kittl tutorial, kittl print on demand, kittl app, kittl design tutorial, print on demand, print on demand business, trademarked phrases to avoid, print on demand trademark, print on demand t shirt, print on demand t shirt design, print on demand copyright check, how to check for trademarks, how to check for copyright, how to check trademark for merch by amazon, how to check trademark on uspto, merch by amazon, amazon merch, trademark registration

Id: qTgz_W1KuN0

Length: 10min 49sec (649 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 14 2023