Holidays and Intellectual Property

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The December festivities are approaching, and as experts in the field of industrial and intellectual property, we are interested in letting you know if it is possible for any individual or corporation to obtain an exclusive protection for words that are widely used during this Holiday time, such as: Santa Claus, Christmas, Hannukah, Merry Christmas, New Year’s Eve, etc. The short answer is NO; however, it is possible to obtain trademark protection for any of these words so long as they are accompanied by additional orthographic, verbal or visual elements that, in combination with the common terms of the Holidays, are distinctive enough to obtain their protection as a Trademark…