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I'm writing a YA novel set in 1978. One of the characters is a high school student who is typing a report for class. I want to say she is using an Underwood typewriter, and I want to make reference to the typewriter being heavy. Does this give rise to any trademark issues?

F1Krazy
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Roy Wood
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1 Answers1

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First of all, you should always mention your jurisdiction when you ask legal questions. The law isn't the same everywhere.

Second, you may use tradmarked brand names in fiction

  • if they appear as common parts of your character's everyday life, e.g. your character eats at McDonalds or takes an AmTrak train or drives a Porsche or wears Prada, and
  • you present the brand in a positive or neutral manner, and
  • the trademarked brand name is not part of the marketing of your book, e.g. your book title is not The Underwood Typewriter Murders.

Third, you rarely need to mention a specific brand name. If your character writes on a typewriter, why does it have to be a specific brand? Why not use the category name typewriter instead? It is usually better to describe the object a little, as not all of your readers may be familiar with Underwood typewriters and the brand name may be meaningless to them, so rather write something like "an old clunky typewriter" or whatever it is that Underwood typewriters mean to you.

Ben
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