Question about trademarking a name of style...

Himokiri Karate · Member of the Month

So to give you an update for those familiar with my situation, initially I wanted to teach karate but not having a belt was a bit of a problem because previous organization disappeared ( hence my belt threads) and a month ago I found myself in an unpleasant situation that could have gotten physical which made me lose interest in having a belt system. I also made a thread about grappling in karate thread. This + having a talk with my sambo instructor and my experience with stand up fighting. I came to a conclusion that I am more fitted to teach Shootfighting (palm strike version of MMA)

Now this is where things get weird. The term Shootfighting is trademarked and that is extremely bizarre because its a fighting style and the person who trademarked it is not the founder. If we go back from the beginning, Victor Koga brought sambo to Japan, one of his students started Shooto which led to Shootfighting when Karate stylist who fought in Kyokushin and kickboxing got curios from sambo and catch wrestling inspired grappling and Shootfighting was born. The term shoot meaning "real" since it was suppose to be the real version of what pro wrestling is.

Now I need to ask all of you, is the style of karate you practice trademarked? Can someone copyright or trademark the term Karate? Or is there a loophole if the name is Shindokan or Kyokushin or Shotokan? If a person is a black belt in a popular karate style like Shotokan, do they have to be part of the organization that is the official Shotokan organization?
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It begins with the knowledge that the severity of a strikes impact is amplified by a smaller surface area.

SLK59 · Yellow Belt

I train with Shotokan Karate of America, a registered non-profit organization with a trademarked name in the USA. Note that SKA does not make any claim of exclusive rights to the style name Shotokan, just to the full name of the organization and its trademarked logo. This is also the case for the other dozen or so major Shotokan organizations active in the USA - most (if nat all) of them have trademarked their organization's official name, but none of them can legally trademark the generalized words "Shotokan" or "Karate." Here are the names for some of the major Shotokan organizations currently active in the USA:

Shotokan Karate of America (SKA) - founded in 1956 by Tsutomu Ohshima

American Amateur Karate Federation (AAKF) - founded in 1961 by Hidetaka Nishiyama

Japan Karate Association/Shotokan Karate-Do International (JKA/SKDI)* - founded in 1968 by Masataka Mori

International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF) - founded in 1977 by Teruyuki Okazaki

Shotokan Karate-do International Federation/USA (SKIF/USA) - founded in 1978 by Hirokazu Kanazawa

Funakoshi Shotokan Karate Association (FSKA) - founded in 1987 by Kenneth Funakoshi

Japan Shotokan Karate Association/USA (JSKA/USA) - founded in 1999 by Thomas Casale

Japan Karate Shoto Federation/USA (JKS/USA) - founded in 2000 by Tetsuhiko Asai

World Traditional Karate Organization (WTKO) - founded in 2000 by John Mullin, et al.

Japan Karate Association-World Federation America (JKA WF America)* - founded in 2007 by Shojiro Koyama & Shigeru Takashina

Japan Karate Association/American Federation (JKA/AF)* - founded in 2008 by Takayuki Mikami

*Affiliated with the Japan Karate Association (Nihon Karate Kyokai), founded in 1949 by Masatoshi Nakayama, et al.

Different countries may have differing trademark and copyright laws, so be sure to check the applicable laws in your country.
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Japan Karate Association (JKA), 1974-1990, Sandan

Shojiko · Orange Belt

I Once trained under a school that named the style "Karate" The head instructor was ranked in 2 respected Karate styles and I guess ran his own thing evidently. Overall... you just cant copyright trademarked organizations of a style but not the Style itself. Ive seen many dojos where it was just the head instructors own association that consists of the students that exclusivly began and progressed under that instructor/dojo.

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