Did You Trademark the Term “Scalp MicroPigmentation”?

I know you have a scalpmicropigmentation.com site, but I saw other companies and websites on the Internet using SMP with a trademark sign or a registered sign. Did you invent SMP or are you using SMP without permission?

The technique of micropigmenting the scalp has been around for many years, but it has not been widely referred to as “Scalp MicroPigmentation” until a few years ago (since 2010). When we first entered the pigmentation market back in 2010, we tried to come up with various names for the process, such as scalp tattooing and scalp micro tattoo. Dr. Pak came up with the term “Scalp MicroPigmentation” in early 2011, which we abbreviated to SMP. We figured it was a good, catchy term and built our marketing based on this new naming.

We even hired a lawyer to file a U.S. Trademark with the Patent office, but the SMP trademark was rejected on the basis that it was a common descriptive term that was abbreviated. We do own the scalpmicropigmentation.com domain, but anyone can use the SMP terminology. Legally, you cannot place a trademark or registered sign after it. I realize other companies shamelessly do this, but that is false advertising and representation. It’s akin to putting a ™ or ® after the words “computer” or “automobile”. Anyone can use the the abbreviation “SMP” and it is not a brand.

In the end, we are happy that the terminology of “SMP” and “Scalp MicroPigmentation” caught on. If anything, it gives us passive exposure for the small investment we made on purchasing the domain name.