Trademark Permission Request
General Principles
Trademarks and service marks are words, acronyms, logos, symbols, taglines, or slogans that identify and distinguish a company as the source of its products and services. The owner of a valid trademark may prevent others from using its mark for particular goods or services and may recover monetary damages caused by another's infringement.
The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office has taken steps to protect its trademarks and logos. Trademarks are important for establishing and protecting agency identity, but they are fragile rights that can be lost through misuse.
This Trademark Policy sets forth the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office policy for use of and reference to usage of the agency's below identified patches, badges and logos.
Use by St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Employees
The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office owns the trademarks for the badge, shield, uniform patches and the name St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office.
St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office employees are authorized usage of the agency's name, badge, logo shield, and uniform patch only for official business of the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office. Personal usage including, but not limited to letters, memoranda, electronic communications such as web sites and web pages of the trademarked badge etc., or agency name is prohibited. Personnel cannot download, use, disseminate, publish or copy the badge, logo, shield or patch for any reason other than official business.
Prohibited Use Generally
The use or copying of any name badge, logo, shield or patch is restricted by law and may be used only with the written permission of the Sheriff for St. Mary's County. Copyright and trademark infringement are violations of federal law and subject to criminal and civil penalties.
The use of or copying of any name, badge, logo, shield or patch of the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office in any social media accounts, names or profiles is prohibited.
The use or copying of any name, badge, logo, shield or patch from the St. Mary's County Sheriff's website is prohibited and may be used only with written permission in the form of an executed licensing agreement. Unless and until such written permission has issued, you may not download, use, disseminate, publish or copy any name badge, logo, shield or patch displayed on the website. Please note that even if you receive permission to use any trademarked item, you may not remove or obscure the trademark notice contained in the materials on the website.
You may download or copy any downloadable materials from the website except the name, badge, logo, shield or patch from the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office.
The use of any St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office any name, badge, logo, shield or patch in any materials without the written permission of the Sheriff for St. Mary's County is prohibited.
Permission to use the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Trademark
Trademark permission means that the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office owns its trademark and may allow an individual or organization to use the federally registered trademark. Permission must be granted to use the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Trademark. Once permission is granted, the trademark can only be used in the way(s) upon which both sides agree as provided in the licensing agreement.
Use of or infringement of the trademark of the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office without permission may lead to legal action. It may also lead to forfeiture of all products that infringe on the trademark through a cease-and-desist order. It may also lead to damages or injunctive relief.
The process of requesting permission to use the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Trademark begins with completing the Trademark Permission Request Form which is located below. The form will then be reviewed and permission granted or denied. The Sheriff for St. Mary's County has the right to grant or deny any use of its Trademark. No permission is granted unless and until the applicant and a representative of the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office have executed the licensing agreement.
Trademark Permission Request Form
Complete this form if you would like permission to use the trademark (badge, logo, shield, patch, or name).
Read these directions carefully and then complete all appropriate sections. Incomplete forms will be returned to the requester. Standard processing is 15 business days, although some requests may take longer. Please provide as much detail as you can. Additionally, please read through all of the foregoing terms before submitting this Trademark Permission Request Form, as failure to comply with them in your use may subject you to legal liability.
For any questions or to receive a status on your application, please contact Lieutenant Joshua Krum at Joshua.Krum@stmaryscountymd.gov.