LOGOS AND TRADEMARKS

The Community Action Council of Howard County (CAC) material contains trademarks and service marks of CAC and of third parties. These marks may only be used in accordance with CAC’s Trademark Usage Guidelines provided below. For permission to use the CAC’s name or logo or any CAC marks outside of the Trademark Usage Guidelines, contact cactech@cac-hc.org. Any use of any CAC’s marks that do not comply with the Logo and Trademark Usage Guidelines is strictly prohibited.

Use to Refer to CAC’s Products or Services

With the exception of CAC’s Design Marks (which include the Community Action Council of Howard County’s name and “heart” Design and other design marks owned by CAC, the use of which must be expressly authorized and approved by CAC), you generally may use CAC’s Trademarks to refer to CAC’s products or services in advertising and promotional materials, assuming that you have the necessary authority to promote CAC’s products or services (e.g., authorized agent or other business partner).

Use in Publications, the Internet and in Social Media

You may refer to or use CAC’s Trademarks (other than Design Marks the use of which must be expressly authorized and approved by CAC) when discussing CAC’s products or services in publications and on websites or social media – including but not limited to social networks, blogs, wikis, virtual worlds, or any other social media – that serve only as noncommercial electronic informational forums, provided you otherwise comply with these Guidelines. You cannot make any representations or claims about CAC that CAC has not authorized or imply or suggest an affiliation or endorsement of the social media page by CAC.

Or in the alternative if unable to add the above, then the following language: “This is not a Community Action Council of Howard County operated, sponsored or affiliated site. The opinions, representations and actions of any party under this site are not under the control of, and do not reflect those of, Community Action Council of Howard County, its affiliates, officers, directors, employees or contractors.”

Use CAC Trademarks to Indicate a Relationship to CAC Products or Services

You may indicate the relationship of your products and services to CAC’s products or services by using an accurate referential phrase in connection with your product or service provided that: (a) the CAC Trademark appears less prominent than the product or service name; (b) the CAC Trademark is not a part of or incorporated in your product or service name; and (c) the referential phrase is accurate and complies with the requirements set forth in these Guidelines and any agreement with CAC.

1. Do Not Use CAC Trademarks in the Name of Your Company, Products, or Services, or as a Domain Name or in the Name of a Social Media Page or Website. Unless in accordance with an agreement with or express written consent from CAC, you may not use or register in any jurisdiction, whether foreign or domestic, any CAC Trademark as all or part of your company, product, or service name in a manner that is likely to create confusion as to CAC’s sponsorship, affiliation or endorsement of your company, product, or service, or that may dilute the CAC Trademarks. Similarly, you may not register in any jurisdiction, whether domestic or foreign, a domain name or use as part of the name of a social media page or site any CAC Trademark in a manner that is likely to create confusion as to CAC’s sponsorship, affiliation or endorsement of your company, product, or service. (see above on disclaimer image and language to be used).
2. Do Not Use CAC Trademarks in any Manner that Implies Ownership. Your use of CAC Trademarks may not imply ownership by any party other than CAC.
3. Do Not Use CAC Design Marks Without Permission. You may not use any CAC Design Marks unless you have an agreement with or express written consent from CAC authorizing such use and any use must be strictly in accordance with the permission granted.
4. Do Not Use CAC Trademarks in False or Misleading Advertising. Advertising for CAC or its products or services offered under the CAC Trademarks must not be false or misleading in any way and must not be in violation of any applicable law, municipal ordinance, or administrative agency regulation of any State or country.
5. Do Not Use CAC Trademarks in Objectionable Material. You may not use CAC Trademarks on or in connection with any defamatory, scandalous, pornographic, or other objectionable materials of any sort.
6. Do Not Use CAC Trademarks to Disparage CAC. You may not use CAC Trademarks to disparage CAC, its products or services, or in a manner that, in CAC’s reasonable judgment, may diminish or otherwise damage the reputation of CAC or the goodwill in the CAC Trademarks.
7. Endorsement or Sponsorship. You may not use any CAC Trademarks in a manner that would imply CAC’s affiliation with or endorsement, sponsorship, or support of a third-party product, service, web site or social media page.
8. Merchandise Items. You may not manufacture, advertise, sell or give-away merchandise items, such as T-shirts and mugs, bearing any CAC Trademark except pursuant to an express written agreement with CAC.

1. Set CAC Trademarks Apart from Surrounding Text. When a CAC Trademark is used in a non-stylized form, such as in the body text of an advertisement or publication, it should be set apart and distinguished from the other words in the text. In order to do this, the CAC Trademark may be rendered in boldface type, italics, capital letters, underscored, or set in quotation marks.
2. Alteration of CAC Trademarks. Do not alter CAC Trademarks in any manner by changing their proportion, color or font, or removing trademark symbols.
3. Do Not Abbreviate or Alter the Spelling of CAC Trademarks. You should not vary the appearance of CAC Trademarks by abbreviating them, incorporating them into acronyms, changing their spelling, or using improper capitalization
4. Use The Proper Trademark Symbol. A CAC Trademark should appear with the proper trademark symbol, which can be found on the CAC Trademark List. In written materials, the appropriate symbol must be used with the first or most prominent appearance of the CAC Trademark in headlines and the first time the CAC Trademark appears in body text. This appropriate symbol also should be used on each subsequent page if the topic is different or if the pages can be separated and distributed independently. If the materials, product packaging, social media page or web page includes a properly licensed CAC Design Mark, which already includes the appropriate trademark symbol, it is not necessary to include a trademark symbol after the word “CAC” in the text in that material, product packaging, social media page or Web page.
5. Adherence to Quality Standards. The CAC Trademarks should be used only in the form listed on the Trademark List. If you have written permission from CAC to use a Design Mark, it must always be used in the colors specified on the Trademark List unless otherwise approved by CAC.
6. Use the Proper Trademark Attribution Statement. All marketing collateral, advertisements, product packaging, web pages, and publications that include CAC Trademarks also must include the proper trademark attribution statement crediting ownership of the CAC Trademarks to Community Action Council of Howard County. Typically, the attribution statement is displayed at the end of the material, in the footer of the document, or on the back of the package. This requirement will not apply in situations where use of the attribution notice is not practical due to space limitations, such as on small promotional items including but not limited to note pads, magnets, pens, pencils and other similar items. The correct trademark attribution statement is:

[Include a list of CAC trademarks actually used] are trademarks of Community Action Council of Howard County (CAC). Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Any use of any CAC marks must comply with the Trademark Usage Guidelines published by CAC, a copy of which can be found on the company’s website.

These Logo and Trademark Usage Guidelines (the “Guidelines”) set forth the rules for using or referring to the trademarks, service marks, and trade names owned by Community Action Council of Howard County (“CAC”). For the purposes of these Guidelines, “CAC Trademark(s)” shall include all registered or unregistered trademarks, service marks and trade dress (such as words, names, symbols, devices, slogans, appearance, packaging, or combination of these) and trade names owned by CAC. These Guidelines apply to CAC authorized agents and re-sellers, funders, grantors, customers, partners, social media users, and all other parties wishing to use the CAC Trademarks for any purpose and in all mediums, including but not limited to print materials, web sites, social media sites, or any other medium.

CAC considers the CAC Trademarks to be among its most valuable intellectual property assets. As such, CAC intends to take all appropriate measures to preserve the strength of and retain its exclusive rights to use its marks. Except for the limited right to use as expressly permitted under these Guidelines, no other rights of any kind are granted hereunder, by implication or otherwise. CAC asks that you assist us by following these Guidelines. If you have any questions about the Guidelines, please direct them to CACOutreach@cac-hc.org.

In the event of a conflict between these Guidelines and a written agreement with CAC, the written agreement will take precedence over these Guidelines to the extent the Guidelines are inconsistent with the written agreement. CAC reserves the right in its sole discretion to modify these Guidelines at any time, and the updated Guidelines will be effective when CAC posts the revised Guidelines on CAC’s website at https://cac-hc.org/logos-and-trademarks. Any revised Guidelines will supersede all previous versions.

If you learn of any uses of any trademarks that are confusingly similar to the CAC Trademarks, please notify CAC by sending an email to CACOutreach@cac-hc.org. Similarly, if you become aware of any use of a CAC Trademark that violates any of the rules described above, including failure to identify CAC Trademarks as belonging to Community Action Council of Howard County MD, please notify us at CACOutreach@cac-hc.org. If possible, please provide a copy of the article or other medium in which the trademark violation appeared.