Department of Homeland Security Intellectual Property Policy

DHS has released their public notice of the intellectual property of the Department of Homeland Security (“Department” or “DHS”). In general, that intellectual property consists of the official seal of the Department and the trade or certification marks of programs for which the Department claims either common law trademark rights or has applied for or received trademark registration under 15 U.S.C. § 1051-1129.

For any of the listings below, the Department of Homeland Security asserts its full rights under statute or the common law. No use may be made of these marks without the permission of the Department acquired in accordance with the procedures of this notice. This list is not exhaustive and is subject to modification from time to time:
* Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS)
* APPROVED READY (certification mark)
* Container Security Initiative
* Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT)
* Electronic System Travel Authorization Program (ESTA)
* Employment Eligibility Verification Program (E-VERIFY)
* Free and Secure Trade Program (FAST)
* Government Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (GFIRST)
* Port Security Exercise Training Programs (PortSTEP)
* READY AMERICA
* READY BUSINESS
* READY KIDS
* READY characters – HECTOR, PURRCILLA, REX, RORY
* Registered Traveler Program (RT)
* Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT)
* Secure Border Initiative (SBI)
* Secure Flight
* Secure Freight Initiative (SFI)
* Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)
* United States-Visitor and Immigration Status Indicator Technology Program (US-VISIT)
* Visa Waver Program (VWP)
* Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI)

To obtain permission to use any of the listed marks, an applicant must make a prior written request to the Department at the email address listed below. The applicant must include evidence of the authority of any representative of the applicant to bind the applicant. In addition, the applicant must agree to comply with the conditions presented in any consent to use or license agreement required by the Department of Homeland Security.