Common Law Trademark Rights (IP)

All persons and corporations have a right to defend their intellectual property from unauthorized use under Common Law, Trademark Law and Copyright Law in the United States, international guidelines under the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) apply at a global level. Common law cases involving trademark and copyright law are unanimously decided by courts to favor the first user, first publisher or the first to use in commerce.

About the Goodwill Ambassador Commission Trademarks

All content, materials and policies published on our website(s) are focused and intended to disambiguate official "Goodwill Ambassadors" and the official use of the title, "Goodwill Ambassador" for academic, diplomatic, educational, entertainment, historical, informational, and public relations purposes. Unauthorized use of the trademark(s) "Goodwill Ambassador" or "Goodwill Ambassadors" for arbitrary, personal or unrelated promotional activities other than an official ambassador of goodwill are aimed at confusing, demeaning, diluting, diminishing, defaming, infringing, misleading, and tarnishing the goodwill and honorability carried through the commission as a public service agency will be pursued under US Law (US Code and CFR) with the Federal Courts by an actual goodwill ambassador.

Goodwill Ambassador(s) Common Law Trademarks

As a body with civil and commercial rights originally established in Washington, DC in 1992 and reorganized as an unincorporated international civil society organization which claims a history beginning in 1927 made up of independent individual goodwill ambassadors between 2005 to 2009 before taking a common law copyright on the Goodwill Ambassadors (blog) and Goodwill Ambassadors of the World (title) upon merging with the International Goodwill Ambassadors Guild in Geneva in 2021, it became our imperative, obligation and duty to to protect and defend the terms we use as our common law trademarks; GOODWILL AMBASSADOR(S) as a website name, a page title, a personal title, part of a business name or the name of a public event, especially from individuals, organizations and programs that are: misusing the ideal; that came into existence after we reorganized, violating our honor code; infringing on our trademark; misrepresenting multiple organizations; using the trademarks commercially; meddling in political issues; promoting religious institutions; using the trademark out of context to represent other ideas; or in other ways to derive a pecuniary personal or indirect gain.

The Goodwill Ambassador Commission reserves all rights to the following generic and descriptive terms as titles which can be used to confuse or ambiguate the commission or its members, the titles are reserved for use descriptively and generically by authorized members notwithstanding any indeterminate claims or specific recognition with their organizations:

  1. Global Goodwill Ambassador

  2. International Goodwill Ambassador

  3. National Goodwill Ambassador

  4. State Goodwill Ambassador

  5. United Nations Goodwill Ambassador

  6. United States Goodwill Ambassador

  7. World Goodwill Ambassador

About the Commission's Official Seals

The Goodwill Ambassador Commission Seals are definitively protected by law from unauthorized use, these seals may not be used for non-official purposes by any person or corporation in the United States, they are considered works of art, were commissioned, produced by a professional artist and originally posted for the first time by Globcal International.

There is no substitute for the Goodwill Ambassador Commission Seal that may be used by non-GAC personnel that would represent the Goodwill Ambassador Commission of 2021 and forward. The seal represents several individual service providers to goodwill ambassadors coming together to protect and strengthen the integrity of the Goodwill Ambassador Title as an honorable and official one. It is an agenda that is supported by nearly every jurisdiction in the world.

Each Goodwill Ambassador Commissioner has a Program Office that manages its own graphic, photographic and word trademarks (including common law trademarks). These protected marks may not be used without a license agreement, letters patent, a commission or written permission, depending on the nature of the request. It is not unusual for a Kentucky Goodwill Ambassador to use the state seal or flag when promoting themselves or the state, but it would be a breach of international ethics and national protocol in law for them to bear the nation's seal or flag to represent their office.

The intent of the GAC Branding Scheme and Trademark Licensing Program is to create policy and provide guidance to GAC Components that use or create their own intellectual property for official or commercial purposes. GAC Components are responsible for managing and protecting their own marks. Protecting the marks allows the Commission to:

  • Ensure quality control of commercial items bearing commissioned officer names and insignia.

  • Prevent the sale of co-branded commercial products that would inappropriately imply an association with GAC or give a perception of GAC endorsement or selective benefit toward commercial entities, privately owned businesses, non-profit organizations, and other organizations.

  • Ensure the respective branch insignia is not abused or misused in a way that would bring discredit to the civil service or the commission.

  • Stop individuals and companies from deceiving viewers by using fake websites bearing celebrity names and seals and luring viewers to disclose personally identifiable information, that may be sold later or worse by luring viewers to install malware.

Legal Recommendation for Goodwill Ambassadors

If you have not been commissioned to use the official title "Goodwill Ambassador" then do not use it as a legal part of your name or business name, use the term "goodwill ambassador for ____________" or "ambassador of goodwill for _____________" as part of your job description instead; if you are using it as a job title for a company or organization team then the job title is most appropriately "Brand Ambassador" or most recently we have seen "Goodwill Brand Ambassador", it may also be appropriate to use a more specific type of ambassador as the job title and use the term "ambassador of goodwill" or "goodwill ambassador" as descriptive terms.

A Guideline Example: The Kentucky Colonel, which is well-known as the trademark of the Commonwealth of Kentucky would put for their occupation or office "Kentucky Colonel", then in the job description "Ambassador of goodwill for the Commonwealth of Kentucky". They can present themselves several different ways, two of the most correct would be:

  • Col. Isaac Shelby, Kentucky Goodwill Ambassador

  • Hon. Isaac Shelby, Kentucky Colonel and Goodwill Ambassador

Read more about Trademarks, Trade Names, Intellectual Property, and Policies held by the Goodwill Ambassador Commission (GAC).