"Harley-Davidson battles for 'Soundmark'", rumbled the headline in
my local newspaper this morning (Sunday 10 Feb 1996, from Knight-
Ridder News Service).

> The company claims that the sound made by its famous motorcycle
> engine is uniquely its own, and they want exclusive rights to the
> sound. "We don't want the sound of _our_ motorcycle to become the
> _generic_ sound of motorcycles," said the company spokesman.
>
> The US Patent and Trademark Office has 729,000 trademarks
> registered, but only 29 are sounds.  The National Broadcasting
> Company (NBC) was the first to register a "soundmark", claiming
> "the musical notes G, E, C played on chimes".

Well, not exactly.  I as a little boy listening to the radio, I
visualized a piano-thing producing the NBC "chime" sound.  I was
correct, too; somewhere I read that NBC built several 3-note
"pianos" -- with strings, sound board, cast-iron plate, and a
clockwork striking mechanism -- which hung on the wall of the
announce booth at the major network stations.  It sure isn't a
tube chime!

I suppose BBC should have registered its use of "Big Ben", but then,
the British have great faith in good sportsmanship.  Radio Moscow
never appropriated the sound of "Big Ben" for its propaganda
broadcasts, thus avoiding yet another international conflict.

Another well-known registered "soundmark" is the roar of the MGM
lion.  But get this: a new application has been filed by Palladium
Limited Partnership to prohibit others from using the famous music
of "The Lone Ranger" radio, film and television series.  The music
is excerpted from Rossini's "William Tell Overture".

I'm used to the idea of NBC's "chimes", and the roar of the MGM lion
is okay too, because these sounds are associated with the marque of
aural and visual products.  But Harley-Davidson is a very _material_
product (and noisy, too).

Imagine an ice cream vending company claiming the sound of a little
music box playing "The Entertainer"!  What if somebody claimed the
"distinctive sound of an out-of-tune piano"?

Hey, World!  Where do we draw the line?

-- Robbie Rhodes