Target led U.S. last year in trademark applications as it launched new brands

Target led the pack last year in the U.S. when it came to trademark applications.

With 525 applications to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), subsidiary Target Brands Inc. was first on a list top-heavy with major retailers, entertainment stars, professional sports leagues and pharmaceutical companies.

Target’s busy trademark year covered mostly private labels, which it refers to as owned brands, according to a spokesperson.

The company declined to speak further about the trademark applications, but it’s the third year in a row the Minneapolis-based retailer led the list.

Target’s portfolio produces $30 billion in annual sales and spans more than 40 owned brands, including kidswear Cat & Jack, Good & Gather groceries and Threshold home furnishings.

In 2024, Target launched two new owned brands: Dealworthy is a low-price brand featuring everyday basics, including household essentials, tech accessories and apparel. Gigglescape is a toy brand featuring stuffed animals, puzzles and books.

The company in 2024 also relaunched its existing owned brands, Auden and Up&Up, with expanded assortments.

Companies that have a lot of consumer-facing brands tend to file the most trademark applications annually including pharmaceutical, cosmetic and gaming companies.

Target’s major competitors, Amazon and Walmart, as well as grocery chains Aldi and Lidl also filed for a large number of trademark applications.

Second on the list of most trademark applications in fiscal 2024, which ended Sept. 30, was Games Global USA Inc., one of 10 gambling-related companies in the top 50. Like other gambling-related companies on the list, the applications covered different online casino-style and downloadable gambling games.

There have been more than 10 million trademark applications filed across the world in each of the last eight years as companies sought to protect their intellectual property.

Trademarks, patents and copyright make up a company’s intellectual property portfolio. Patents protect inventions or novel designs and copyrights protect original expressions including novels, music, movies, software code, photographs, and paintings.

Trademarks cover goods and services across 47 classifications ranging from chemicals and pharmaceuticals to foods and transportation services, according to the USPTO.

Trademarks can include words, phrases, symbols or designs and are what help customers identify your product or service and can help distinguish the product or service from competitors.

“In the most simple terms, trademarks are source identifiers. That’s what distinguishes one party’s goods and services from another party’s goods and services,” said Jodi DeSchane, an intellectual property attorney in the Minneapolis office of the Ballard Spahr law firm.

Trademarks also provide their owners with important legal protections of their intellectual property.

“One of the important benefits is that it helps brand owners enforce rights against infringers because a federal registration can be used in court as evidence of exclusive nationwide rights,” DeSchane said.

Among other organizations in the top 50 filers for trademarks in fiscal 2024 was PWHL Holdings, the two-year-old professional women’s hockey league that includes two-time PWHL champion Minnesota Frost.

In 2024, the PWHL applied for trademarks that applied to team names, logos and wordmarks as well as trademarks for the league.

In the first year of play, the six inaugural teams operated with similar names PWHL Minnesota and PWHL Toronto. In year two, teams got nicknames including the Minnesota Frost.

“The process of developing our team identities takes months and includes engaging with fans, players and members of the hockey community to understand the spirit of each market,” said Amy Scheer, executive vice president of Business Operations for the PWHL in an emailed statement. “Trademarking is a critical part of this process — it ensures we can protect these new identities in both Canada and the U.S. across multiple elements, including the name, logos, jerseys and other key aspects that shape each team’s identity.”

Expect the league to apply for additional trademarks as it adds expansion teams in Seattle and Vancouver next season.

TGL Golf Holdings had the third most trademark applications. TGL is the professional indoor golf league backed by golfers Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and executive Mike McCarley.

It was in a similar position as the PWHL in applying for trademarks for its six new professional indoor golf teams and for the league. The TGL is in expansion mode as well and plans to debut a seventh team for its third season.

Other companies near the top of the list: BGK Trademark Holdings, a company affiliated with entertainer Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, and Ox Paha Inc., affiliated with polarizing hip-hop entrepreneur Kanye West.

While patents and copyright offer protection for a limited time, a trademark can last indefinitely as long as the company continues to renew and use them.

“Trademarks become a very important company asset,” DeSchane said. “Sometimes it’s the most valuable or one of the most valuable company assets.”

Includes reporting by Star Tribune staff writer Carson Hartzog.