Definitions
What is a trademark?
A trademark is any word, name or symbol (or a combination of these) that identifies goods and services. Trademarks differentiate a product or service from others of its kind and recognizes a business’ ownership of a brand. Greenhouse’s trademarks are important and valuable assets for our business. A unique and identifiable mark allows us to build a strong brand reputation and clearly distinguish ourselves from our competitors.
What is a trade name?
A trade name is the official name under which a company does business. A trade name is commonly known as a “doing business as (DBA) name.” Greenhouse’s legal name is Greenhouse Software Inc. Our trade name is Greenhouse. Registering a trade name is an important step in branding for a company but unlike registering a trademark, it doesn't provide an unlimited brand name or legal protection for use of the name.
What does a trademark protect?
A trademark prevents others beyond the trademark owner, or their agents, from using registered names, phrases and logos. It also prevents facsimiles of the trademark in ways a reasonable person would confuse with the original. This protection is not universal and only applies in the jurisdictions of the registration and industries and categories the registrar of the mark can prove use.
For Greenhouse, this means our trademarks generally apply to SaaS products and hiring-related categories, in the classes we can prove use. As an example, a salad restaurant could not be prevented from using Greenhouse because it is in a completely unrelated industry and category. No reasonable person would confuse salad and hiring software. Similarly, a salad restaurant could use their mark in retail stores or on delivery packaging – use cases we could not prove.
Greenhouse trademarks and trade name
Greenhouse®
(Trade name and trademark)
Talent Makers®(Trademark)
Hire for what’s next®
(Trademark)
Greenhouse trade name and trademark
Greenhouse is the trade name and trademark of Greenhouse Software, Inc. – this means Greenhouse can be used both as a noun (When you hire with Greenhouse, you can make hiring a business advantage) and as an adjective (Greenhouse hiring software leads the industry in innovation.) Additionally, because Greenhouse is our trade name, it can also be used in the possessive, if necessary.
Do
- Use Greenhouse as a brand name when referring to products and solutions – “Greenhouse Recruiting” or “Greenhouse reporting features” or “Reporting features from Greenhouse.”
- Use Greenhouse in the possessive if absolutely necessary (Greenhouse’s approach to hiring is more strategic). However, alternate phrasing is preferred (Greenhouse takes the most strategic approach to hiring).
- Identify the registered status by using Greenhouse® in the first text/body copy occurrence. An exception can be made if a trademark notice is present.
- Use the full spelling of Greenhouse in sentence case
- Refer to the brand writing style guide for further information
Don't
- Invent new brand names (eg. “Greenhouse Reporting”).
- Use Greenhouse as the possessive of our products – such as “Greenhouse’s software” or “Greenhouse’s hiring operating system” or “Greenhouse’s reporting features.”
- Do not include the registered symbol in headlines or prominent text
- Do not abbreviate Greenhouse in any form or use alternate capitalization (GREENHOUSE, greenhouse, GreenHouse)
- Do not combine Greenhouse with other words, symbols or logos.
Greenhouse logo mark
The Greenhouse logo is the identifier and most fundamental visual representation of Greenhouse. Because of this, it must be used consistently across all channels, assets and communications.
Do
- Include the Greenhouse full logo mark on all collateral, assets and communications that will appear externally. You may use the “g” icon in cases where the full logo is adjacent or elsewhere on the asset.
- Use a trademark notice when using the logo. Exceptions to this can be made when an asset is linked to an asset with a trademark notice. For example, a brochure should contain the trademark disclaimer, but a banner ad does not need to as long as the page it links to includes the notice.
- Use the logo mark as an identifier of the Greenhouse brand
- Refer to the brand guidelines for full logo usage details,
Don't
- Use the “g” icon when the full Greenhouse logo mark is not present.
- Do not add trademark symbols to any Greenhouse logo
- Use the logo in copy or incorporate it into sentences.
- Alter the logo in any way, use unapproved colors or combine it with other words, symbols or logos
Talent Makers trademark
Talent Makers is a brand name and should be used as an adjective to describe content or programs that are part of Talent Makers.
Do
- Use Talent Makers alone or as an identifier of nouns (“Talent Makers workshop” or “Talent Makers community”)
- Always use the trademark exactly this way – Talent Makers
- Indicate the registered trademark status by including Talent Makers® within the first body copy use or by including a trademark notice
Don't
- Do not use Talent Makers as a noun (“welcome to Talent Makers’)
- Never change the capitalization (“Talent makers”) or make Talent Makers possessive (“the Talent Maker’s workshop”)
- Do not pair Greenhouse with Talent Makers in text or graphical elements (the Greenhouse Talent Makers workshop)
Hire for what’s next trademark
“Hire for what’s next” is a registered trademark which is used as a tagline in marketing and advertising. Typically, this mark should only be used by those in marketing or communications roles.
Do
- Include a trademark notice on the asset or ensure the asset links to a page with the notice.
- Always use “Hire for what’s next” as a headline, tagline or sign-off.
- Indicate the registered trademark status by including a trademark notice
Don't
- Do not incorporate trademark symbols into the Hire for what’s next mark.
- Never change the capitalization (“Hire For What’s Next.”)
