Are you one of those trademark professionals who can’t shed your “Brand Police” identity no matter where you are or what you’re doing?  Take this quiz to assess whether you are truly Brand Obsessed:

1. When you’re on vacation, do you make detours to out-of-the-way shops to find out if they carry the brands you work with?

2. Do you get especially excited when you see your brands outside your home country?

3. Have you talked about trademark matters so much that family members now ask you why a store’s sign shows a “TM” notice rather than an encircled-R notice?

4. Do family members also ask you “Why was Company X able to register that mark?  Isn’t that merely descriptive?”

5. When you like someone’s clothing, do you ask “Who makes that?” and not “Where did you buy that?”

6. Do you often try to identify the source of others’ handbags, shoes and wallets by looking at their shape, material and hardware, just because you think it’s fun?

7. Do you clip “look for” or anti-genericide advertising from publications you read at home, so you can show them to the marketing team?

8. Do you use the Trademark Office’s web site to look up brands you encountered on your personal shopping trips?

9. Does your phone contain more photos of Trademark Office specimens than photos of loved ones?

10. Does your phone contain more photos of potential infringement than photos of your dog or cat?

If you said “Yes” to 5 or more of the above, it’s confirmed… you are indeed Brand Obsessed.   Welcome to the ranks!