Trademark Usage Guidelines

The College Funding Coach®’s trademarks and brands are intellectual property owned by College Funding Coach, LLC and are among our most valuable assets.  In order to preserve and protect the brands, it is essential that they are used properly.  Please follow these Guidelines and our Brand Style Guide for using The College Funding Coach®’s trademarks and brands properly in all communications, documents, and electronic messages.

These Guidelines apply to The College Funding Coach®’s partner organizations and schools, Employees, Members, Staff, Contractors, Clients, and other Third Parties. If you are a Member, Staff, or Employee of The College Funding Coach®, you may have additional usage guidelines and license authorizations in an agreement. If so, please also follow the specific guidelines in your respective agreement.

You may reference The College Funding Coach®’s products and services using The College Funding Coach® trademarks, so long as such references are: (1) truthful, fair, and not misleading, and (2) comply with these Guidelines, which may be modified from time to time by The College Funding Coach, LLC in its sole discretion. The College Funding Coach® trademarks and brands should never be used in a way that could cause anyone wrongly to believe that your products or services are offered, endorsed, or sponsored by The College Funding Coach, LLC or any of its subsidiaries.

Specific Do’s and Dont’s

Trademark Notices

Properly designate the status of The College Funding Coach®’s trademarks by using the correct trademark symbol (® or ™) reflecting The College Funding Coach®’s ownership of particular marks as set forth below. Also include an attribution of The College Funding Coach®’s ownership in the following format: “_______ is a trademark of The College Funding Coach®.”

  • In letters, memos, press releases, white papers, advertising, slides, foils, video, and other multimedia presentations:
    • Properly designate (with ® or ™) all of The College Funding Coach®’s trademarks at the most prominent use (usually a headline) and again on the first occurrence in copy; and
    • In the case of presentation graphics, trademarks should be designated with the proper trademark symbol on each page, slide, and foil.
  • In newsletters, magazines, and publications containing multiple articles:
    • Properly designate (with ® or ™) all of The College Funding Coach®’s trademarks on the first occurrence in the document, in headlines and on the first occurrence in every article in which they are used.
  • In brochures, annual/quarterly reports, books, technical documentation, and other bound documents:
    • Properly designate (with ® or ™) all of The College Funding Coach®’s trademarks on the first occurrence in the document, in headlines, and on the first occurrence in text.
  • In all charts or graphs, properly designate trademarks (with ® or ™).
  • On all packaging, always use the trademark symbol in every reference.

Trademarks are Singular Adjectives, Not Verbs and Should Not be Made Possessive

Use The College Funding Coach® trademarks only as adjectives followed by the appropriate generic product or service noun describing the relevant product or service (e.g., “The College Funding Coach®’s workshops”). The College Funding Coach® trademarks should not be used in plural or possessive form or as verbs.

References to The College Funding Coach, LLC.

When “The College Funding Coach” is used to refer to our company, The College Funding Coach, LLC, rather than as a brand of product or services, then the rules for proper usage change slightly. Unlike trademarks, company names are proper nouns; they can be used in the possessive form and do not need to be followed by a generic term. Neither the ™ nor ® symbol should accompany references to The College Funding Coach, LLC as a company.

Ownership Assertion

Do not assert rights over any The College Funding Coach® brand whether by incorporating The College Funding Coach® brand into your own product or service names, trademarks, logos, company names, or domain names or seeking a trademark or domain name registration for any term that includes The College Funding Coach® brand.

Style of Use

When using The College Funding Coach®’s trademarks: (i) follow the style and usage guidelines available in our Brand Style Guide; (ii) use our Logos exactly as they appear below, and do not alter or distort their appearance in any way, for example, by adding your own design elements or changing the font, colors, or size; (iii) allow for clear space around our Logo; and (iv) maintain the legibility of our Logos and keep them sharp, clear, and well-produced. When using our Word Marks, you may not change their appearance by abbreviating them, incorporating them into acronyms, changing their spelling, using them in parts, or using improper capitalization.

No Trademark Bidding

Unless expressly permitted in an agreement between you and The College Funding Coach, LLC you may not bid on a The College Funding Coach® trademark (or any variant or extension thereof) as a keyword on any search engine, or use The College Funding Coach® trademark (or any variant or extension thereof) in any form of paid advertising including, but not limited to, paid social and display advertisements.

No Tarnishment

You may not use The College Funding Coach® trademark in a disparaging or degrading manner.

The College Funding Coach® Logos

The following is an illustrative, non-exhaustive list of logos and trademarks owned by The College Funding Coach®. Because this list of logos and trademarks and their status could change over time, including as we add new products and services, please review this section in these Guidelines periodically. Please note that the absence of a product or service name or logo from the list below does not constitute a waiver of The College Funding Coach®’s trademark or other intellectual property rights in that name or logo.

If you become aware of any usage of The College Funding Coach® trademarks or brands in violation of these Guidelines, please contact us.