American's Logo is Now a Trademark
For Immediate Release
July 10, 2003
The logo of American Solutions for Business is now a registered trademark belonging solely to the company. Craig McLain, COO, received the news on July 9, 2003 from the company’s corporate attorney, Joseph A. Nilan. The logo is on file with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D.C., where they define a trademark as “any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source of the goods.” In short, a trademark is a brand name.
For the past few years, American’s logo has had a service mark (sm) associated with it. That service mark will now be replaced with a registered trademark symbol (®). The symbol signifies the highest level of protection available for a trademark.
Founded in 1981, the company, headquartered in Glenwood, Minnesota, was originally called American Business Forms, Incorporated. The logo, a cursive form of the word ‘American,’ was created in the late 1980s and has remained virtually unchanged through the years. In 2000, the firm became employee-owned through the formation of an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan). Its founder and president, Larry A. Zavadil, announced a company name change in the third quarter of 2002. The change to American Solutions for Business was made to more accurately reflect the company’s wide range of products and service offerings including printing, advertising specialty products, office supplies, corporate apparel and e-commerce solutions. Currently, American Solutions for Business has over 400 sales associates, 300 staff people and 90,000 clients throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. The company's 2002 booked sales totaled $220 million.
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