Month of the Young Child^® Service Mark Guidelines

Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children has obtained from the state of Michigan and federal government rights to the expressions “Month of the Young Child^®” and “MOYC^®” as service marks of the organization.

Application for these service marks occurred at the request of the Michigan MOYC^® Steering Committee. The Steering Committee wanted exclusive rights to market the MOYC^® name; and, it wanted to protect these two expressions from exploitation by commercial interests and others who may not have the best interests of young children at heart.

MiAEYC applied for Michigan and federal rights in the summer of 1991. Final approval of the state service marks came in August, 1993, and approval of the federal service marks came in August, 1994–all retroactive to the dates of application.

This gives MiAEYC exclusive rights to use the protected service marks and the power to permit or prohibit their use by other organizations or people.

Our attorney advised us that protection of the service marks requires the following procedures:

1. Either or both service marks may only be used with MiAEYC permission;

2. The mark must always be used with the appropriate service mark designation
(^® or ^SM see below), and preferably with one of the following statements: