The International Association of Registered Financial Consultants announces the approved registration of the trademark status for the IARFC® acronym. This federal registration has been obtained through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) effective immediately.
The IARFC joins the list of other items trademarked by the Association as listed below:
- IARFC®
- RFC®
- RFA®
- Registered Financial Associate®
- Registered Financial Consultant®
- MRFC®.
“Our hope is that members realize the value of protecting the Association name and its designations/credential,” explained IARFC COO, Charlotte Isbell. “We encourage them to use the registered marks according to our trademark guidelines listed on our website.”
The use of the registered (®) items should always be in context and use media
consistency when demonstrating professional designations or credential,
including but not limited to: office signage, resumes, websites, business
cards, presentations, social media postings, introductions, and electronic
signatures. These registered items may not be used to endorse any product,
service, company, product or brand name.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is a fee-funded agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The role of the USPTO is to grant patents for the protection of inventions and to register trademarks and service marks for products and services, respectively. It serves the interests of small and large businesses as well as consumers, and helps strengthen the economy by promoting the industrial and technological progress of the nation.1
According to the USPTO, the trademark registration process is a legal proceeding that requires you to act within strict deadlines. The information submitted is public record and will permanently remain searchable in the USPTO online databases, internet search engines and other databases.
Any additional inquiries about how best to use the trademarks can be directed to info@iarfc.org.
1 exert from https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/BasicFacts.pdf
