VA Trademarks ‘GI Bill’

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced that GI Bill is now a registered trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and VA is the sole owner of the mark.

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced that GI Bill is now a registered trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and VA is the sole owner of the mark.

“We will continue to support our Veterans by helping them obtain the best education of their choosing—a right for which they have bravely served, and which they have truly earned,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.  “We all want Veterans to be informed consumers in their educational pursuit.”

In addition, VA obtained the rights to the GIBill.com website after the original owners agreed to give up the site.

“We want to ensure the right balance with these new guidelines so that our stakeholders can still promote GI Bill and we can prohibit others from using it fraudulently,” said Curtis L. Coy, deputy undersecretary for economic opportunity.

The action comes in response to an executive order issued by President Obama earlier this year. On April 26, 2012, Executive Order 13607 directed the VA, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Education to undertake a number of measures to “stop deceptive and misleading” promotional efforts that target the GI Bill educational benefits of Servicemembers, Veterans, and eligible family members and survivors. One of the key components of the order was for VA to register the term “GI Bill” as a trademark in order to protect individuals and ensure they are directed to the right resources to make informed decisions.

VA will issue terms of use for “GI Bill” within the next six months.

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Ian Smith is one of the co-founders of FedSmith.com. He has over 20 years of combined experience in media and government services, having worked at two government contracting firms and an online news and web development company prior to his current role at FedSmith.