A few days ago a colleague at work asked me, “Does Harley-Davidson have a patent on the sound of their exhaust?” I thought he was kidding. I never heard of the government granting a patent on a particular sound. Then a friend of mine told me H-D won a lawsuit against one of the “rice burner” bike manufacturers because they had (electronically) duplicated the sound of the Harley! What gives? Can you really patent the exhaust sound of an infernal–strike that–internal combustion engine?
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Not a patent, Jens. A trademark. You patent an invention; you secure trademark rights for a symbol associated with your company or product. Sure, you can get one on a sound. MGM registered the roar of its lion as a trademark, and NBC registered its three-toned chime as a service mark. Hadn’t heard that chime in years, but as soon as I saw it mentioned, it popped into my mind, practical proof that sounds can be potent symbols. Trouble is, when I think of Harley, I think of Hell’s Angels, the Harley logo, and the word hog (which Harley also tried to register). But–and I realize this may say negative things about my testosterone level–I don’t think of a particular sound, which might explain why Harley withdrew its application to register the engine sound earlier this year.
Harley lawyer: “Your honor, our competitor’s rip-off of our product purposely goes potato-potato-potato.”
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