PROTECTING OUR
SUBUD SYMBOL AND NAME
August, 2003
As a follow up to discussions during the World Council meeting in Brazil, we decided that we must, once and for all, take certain simple steps towards being consistent about the use of the Subud symbol and the name SUBUD.
For your information, the symbol and the name have been registered in the European Union under the name of the World Subud Association, covering all the countries that currently form part and those that will in the future. A handful of other countries world-wide have also registered one or both. In the United States only the symbol has been registered, while registering the name is in process. Where it has not been done, countries are now requested to also begin the process of registration of both the name and the symbol.
Accordingly, the step that all international, national and local entities now have to make, is to ensure that an ® symbol in included every time the Subud symbol appears somewhere - be it stationery, web-sites (very important), publications, congress badges and programmes, banners, etc. The sample above shows clearly what we mean. At the ISC Media web-site - www.iscmedia.com - you will also find general information about the appropriate use of the symbol. For general information about trade marks and registrations, we are attaching a document submitted by John Daly of Ireland, an expert in this field. Equally, the ® should appear following the word SUBUD. This is not necessary for every time it appears in one same web-site, document, book or whatever, but it needs to be seen visibly at least once.
Finally, the following message should appear at least once in each site, publication, etc.:
"Subud®" and the seven circles symbol are registered marks of the World Subud Association.
Obviously, we understand that much stationery and other material exists already without the ®. However, when possible we suggest adding a hand-written one (or possibly a small sticker) and that for any future printing the ® be included.
For web-sites we are trusting that an amendment will be made as quickly a possible because the web is one of the areas where we are most visible. By including the ® we are sending out the clear message that the symbol and name are registered (if not world-wide at least in an important group of countries) which can help avoid further complications. Unfortunately, that complications can arise is something we are already experiencing - situations that could have been resolved or dealt with in a much easier manner if we'd done this earlier.
Please spread this message as far and as wide as possible and please make every effort to start putting this into practise. ISC will be following up, checking web-sites and so on. However, we do need your full co-operation to make this happen. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to write.