SAP Trademark Guidelines

 

You must carefully consider SAP’s trademark usage guidelines when mentioning SAP offerings in your materials or in connection with your own products or product names. You must always make a clear and unambiguous distinction between your own solutions, products, and/or services and the SAP offerings mentioned.

SAP accepts no responsibility for any violation of legal regulations regarding competition or trademarks by partners. In addition to these guidelines, country-specific regulations may apply.

 

Proper Use of Trademarks

Throughout the world, thousands of customers recognize and select SAP based on the company’s trademarks, which signify high-quality products and related services. Without these trademarks, consumers would not be able to distinguish SAP offerings from those of other companies, nor would they be able to immediately recognize the professional quality of offerings that SAP trademarks represent. Therefore, it is critically important to protect trademarks of SAP and affiliate companies by following these usage guidelines.

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, design, or combination thereof that identifies unique ownership. Unregistered or pending trademarks bear the ™ symbol. Registered trademarks carry the ® symbol. A list of current SAP trademarks, both registered and pending, are available on SAP Brand Tools and externally on SAP.com. Use these names and their symbols according to the guidelines that follow.

 

When to Use Trademarks

In general, trademarks are required for communications that you can expect to be printed (including PDFs). Web applications, mobile sites, or other on-screen presentations where the low resolution of the medium renders the symbol illegible, do not require trademark usage. However, a link to the copyright site on SAP.com must be included in the masthead (Impressum), template, or About statement. This is the case with the corporate Microsoft PowerPoint template, which has its own copyright boilerplate at the end and takes the place of using trademarks on individual slides. Do not delete the copyright boilerplate slide(s) in the PPT template; you can simply hide them.

To ensure correct use of SAP trademarks, follow these guidelines. For correct spelling and capitalization, see the current Trademark List.

  • Always refer to a trademark using the correct spelling with the correct capitalization.
    Do not alter the trademark in any way.
X Sap® software; sap® software SAP® software
X SAP Hana®;
SAP’s HANA®
SAP HANA®

 

  • Always use a trademark as a proper adjective, not a noun.
X You can use SAP® to manage your enterprise. You can use SAP® solutions to manage your enterprise.

 

  • Use a trademark as a proper adjective followed by a common-noun descriptor.

Examples of common-noun descriptors are “software,” “solution,” “application,” and “platform.” Examples of correct use are “SAP® software” and “SAP HANA® platform.” Always use an appropriate descriptor. See the current trademark list for SAP trademarks and their applicable descriptors.

 

  • Include the appropriate trademark symbol – ™ or ® – representing the trademark status.

If repeated inclusion of the ™ or ® symbol is awkward or impractical, at a minimum you must include the symbol and the common-noun descriptor upon the first use of the trademark in the title (if the name appears in the title) and in the text. Subsequent to this initial use, the symbol and descriptor need not appear with the name.

Note: In high-level marketing materials for events, advertising, invitations, or in online banners and social media posts, for example, it may not be practical or standard to include the trademark in a call to action or headline. If this is the case, apply trademark attribution at the first opportunity in body copy. In standard marketing and communications, such as solution brief or success story, apply trademarks at first mention in title and text.

SAP HANA® helps companies align IT with their business in real time. SAP HANA allows companies to …

 

  • The registered trademark on “SAP” applies to all goods or services delivered by SAP – anything SAP produces as product or service.

In this context, you communicate SAP® software, SAP® service, SAP® offering, SAP® package, SAP® application, SAP® solution, SAP® component, SAP® technology, SAP® tool, and so on. The trademark symbol is only required at first mention in title and text. In some cases, for event or advertising materials, the trademark is sufficient on first mention in body text only.

 

  • When referring to SAP as the company rather than the SAP brand, do not use any trademarks.

Do not add the trademark symbol ® in statements such as “SAP announced today,” “SAP provides solutions to customers,” and “the SAP development team.” Similarly, you can use the possessive form “SAP’s” when referring to the company, not to the brand. For example, you can communicate “SAP’s vision,” “SAP’s market share,” and “SAP’s years of experience.” In many cases, the possessive is not necessary: “SAP employees work extremely hard.”

Self-test: Ask yourself, “Am I referring to the corporation/company, or to an SAP-brand offering or service?” If you are referring to an SAP branded offering or service, use the ® symbol.

 

  • Do not use a trademark in possessive form.
X The company has three
SAP® Business ByDesigns®.
SAP® software;
SAP® Business ByDesign®
X SAP’s HANA®; SAP HANA®’s SAP HANA®

 

  • Do not use a trademark in plural form. Place the trademark within the final punctuation.
X The company has three active
SAP® Business ByDesigns.®
The company has three systems running the SAP® Business ByDesign® solution.

 

  • Place the trademark inside the punctuation, after the full term.
X The company has three systems running the SAP® Business ByDesign.® The company has three systems running the SAP® Business ByDesign®.

 

  • Some trademarks already include SAP (“SAP Fiori,” “SAP Business One,” and “SAP HANA,” for example).

For these offerings, you do not need to add the ® symbol after “SAP,” since the entire name is a registered trademark. With these names, use the ® symbol after the entire name at first mention: SAP Fiori®, SAP HANA®, SAP Business One®.

 

  • Do not use the ® symbol in industry portfolio names, such as SAP for Automotive, unless there is no other opportunity to use the ® symbol after “SAP” within the written piece.
SAP offers a comprehensive set of solutions for oil and gas companies of all sizes operating in various business segments. SAP for Oil & Gas solutions address needs from wellhead to retail outlet and allow companies to be globally integrated while regionally focused. SAP® solutions help companies build strong relationships with supply chain partners, improve decision making, and enhance organizational flexibility.

 

  • If you have no opportunity to use the ® symbol after “SAP” unless it is in an industry portfolio name, add the ® symbol. This may occur, for example, in a header/title or very short body text.
SAP® for Automotive Conference

 

Trademark Attribution

In any material that mentions any SAP trademark, you must include the correct attribution statement based on the following:

“<SAP TRADEMARKS> is/are the trademark(s) or registered trademark(s) of SAP SE or its affiliates in Germany and in several other countries.”

In your attribution statement, replace the placeholder phrase <SAP TRADEMARKS> with the names of the SAP trademarks mentioned in your material. Place the statement either on the copyright page (which may be the case in a brochure) or at the end of a material if it has no copyright page (in an advertisement or a press release, for example).

Example attribution statement:

“SAP C/4HANA is the trademark or registered trademark of SAP SE or its affiliates in Germany and in several other countries.”

 

If you have questions regarding trademarks and/or logo usage, please contact trademarks@sap.com.

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