MA World Services hired attorneys specializing in Intellectual Property (IP) law to assist it with re-registering its Trademarks in 2023. As part of this process, MA’s IP attorneys advised MA World Services to prepare a policy and licensing agreements for those who want to use the logo. Similarly, when the Chips Committee reached out to outside third-party chip manufacturers, they too required that MA show legal ownership of its own Trademarks before it took on the cost and effort of making the plates needed to make MA chips. So, if MA lost the rights to its trademark due to a failure to enter into licensing agreements with meetings, groups and districts, it could also detrimentally affect MA’s ability to have MA chips made. As MA has rapidly grown in recent years, the amount of legal scrutiny on the legal, business and financial affairs has also grown, making it more important than ever for MA World Services to work with experts and ensure our operations remain in line with all the requirements to continue operating effectively as a non-profit corporation.
This is also an expansion of the prior written policy in the Service Manual, which did not allow for any use of the MA name or logo on flyers, and did not address using the MA logo on websites, or on milestone chips. As a result of the lack of information, the policy needed updating.