[Jewelry making - Article 00907] - [Orchid] Confused about Maker's Mark Stamps

[Nan]

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Dear Friends on Orchid,

    I am so confused about Maker's Mark Stamps for jewelry. I'm hoping
    you guys can help clarify this for me. 

    Based on previous posts here on Orchid, and info gleaned from
    elsewhere, my understanding is that if you want to quality stamp your
    jewelry with "sterling" or "14k" or whatever, then you must also
    stamp your "Maker's Mark", the idea being so the maker can be
    tracked down if the quality mark is found to be wrong. In the US, we
    can't register "Maker's Marks" per se but we can register a
    Trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office. So, I've been
    trying to design a stamp to register. 

    The issue is: for a design to look good when it is shrunk down to a
    tiny size, say to fit on a ring shank that is 2 mm wide, the design
    must be very simple with thin lines and not much detail. I've been
    trying to do something with my initials, but the Trademark Attorney
    says my design must be more "stylized", have more "design elements"
    so that it will be seen as unique by the Trademark Office examiners. 

    I've been pulling my hair out trying to come up with a design that I
    like, can use as my logo on my website, and that also looks good
    shrunk down to stamp size - - and I'm really struggling. It seems
    like the characteristics needed for these 2 purposes are totally at
    odds with each other! I've been trying to find out what other
    jewelers do. I asked the stamp-making guy what others do and he said,
    "Usually jewelers don't use their trademarked logo because of it's
    complexity. The stamps made for rings are usually just initials and
    such." 

    So, is this true? How can everyone just uses their initials, which
    are not trademarked? Does that satisfy the stamping laws? 

    I appreciate your help on getting straightened out here - - it's
    become a stumbling block for me. 

Thanks! - - Nan
www.nanlewisjewelry.com
Artisan-made fine jewelry... different!
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