By Matt Burr

Trademarks are used to protect a name, word, or symbol that is used for the purpose of identifying the source of goods or services.  Many economists have shown the direct relationship between the increasing importance of branding and the value of securing your IP - a lesson that the “Octomom” has clearly not missed!

According to CNN, the Smoking Gun and a number of other news sources Nadya Suleman, aka the “Octomom”, has recently filed two trademark applications and wants to put her moniker on television programs, clothing and disposable and cloth diapers. 

Here is what the Associated Press reported:

(04-15) 21:58 PDT LOS ANGELES (AP) –

“Octomom,” the nickname that has dominated headlines for nearly three months, could belong to Nadya Suleman alone.

The mother of octuplets wants to trademark her moniker and filed two applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on April 10.

The applications said Suleman wants to put the Octomom name on television programs, clothing and disposable and cloth diapers.

The octuplets’ birth on Jan 26 was heralded as a medical miracle, but the public’s fascination with Suleman quickly soured as details of her life emerged. The divorced and unemployed mother has six other children at home; she has said all 14 children were conceived through in vitro fertilization.

Tabloids called her the “Octomom” and the name stuck.

Suleman’s attorney, Jeff Czech, said two people have approached him with suggestions for products like children’s clothes and dolls.

“She doesn’t particularly care for the name but she thinks it’s a good idea to protect it,” he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “She has a sense of humor about it.”

Czech said a Texas-based video game company called Super Happy Fun Fun, Inc. also filed a trademark application for the name. Its Web site describes a game in which players “press down on Fertyle Myrtle’s swollen belly, and another adorable bundle of joy will be brought into the world.”

The company filed its application about a month ago and did not ask for permission, Czech said. Typically, the first person to file an application receives the right to use the name, he added.

“But in this case, it’s more than just the name. It’s become a person,” he said. “When it becomes so associated with a name or a person, it is protectable.”

While it’s hard to get past the sensationalism, the Octomom’s situation does raise some interesting issues regarding trademark law ”best practices”.  For example, the story alludes to the importance of being the first to file your trademark application. 

You might not be on the cover of People Magazine or US Weekly but have you done everything that’s necessary to protect your brand?

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Matt Burr is Intellectual Property Counsel of MosterWynne, a national corporate law firm headquarted in Austin that helps entrepreneurs and executives build their businesses.