Last fall the Department of Veteran Affairs trademarked the term 'GI
BILL' to gain control over how the term is used by universities to
solicit and recruit veterans. Evidently, an investigation by the Senate
and Government Accountability Office found that some for-profit colleges
and universities have been using the term GI BILL to recruit veterans
without full disclosure of costs, loans and dropout rates.
By registering the trademark GI BILL (USPTO Reg No. 4225784),
the Department of Veteran Affairs will be the owner of the trademark
and gain exclusive control over how the trademark is used which means
they should have the power to prevent deceptive and fraudulent uses of
the term. The Department of Veteran Affairs plans to issue terms of use
for the 'GI BILL' trademark within the next few months and has already
obtained rights to the GIBILL.com domain.
By registering
the GI BILL trademark, the Department of Veteran Affairs will continue
to support Servicemembers, Veterans and their families in their
educational pursuits and is taking proactive steps to stop fraudulent
and deceptive uses of the term.
For more information: http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2408, www.uspto.gov and www.kasterlegal.com
BY: Vanessa Kaster, Esq., LL.M.
For personalized legal services you are welcome to contact me at
[email protected]