Diana Wolf
The 17 Most Recognizable Trademarked Sounds
by Diana Wolf - August 12, 2008 - 12:10 PM

hd.jpg“Potato-potato-potato!” Know what that sound is? Maybe you don’t recognize the onomatopoeia, but you must certainly know the actual sound. It’s the “Hog Call,” the rev of a Harley Davidson, and it’s one of the most recognized sounds of one of the most recognized brands in the US.

As for “potato-potato-potato,” that’s the sound that Harley tried to trademark back in the ’90s. In 1994, Harley filed a registration for a trademark of its V-twin engine sound. It read “the mark consists of the exhaust sound of applicant’s motorcycles, produced by V-twin, common crankpin motorcycle engines when the goods are in use.” Though it was denied, there are more than a few sound trademark applications that made it through. About 300, in fact. Here are 17 of the most recognized:

1. NBC’s musical notes G, E, C played on chimes. NBC was the first to trademark a sound for its radio broadcasting services in 1950.
2. MGM’s lion’s roar
3. The song “Sweet Georgia Brown” for The Harlem Globetrotters
4. Tetris’ “electronic Russian folkstyle tune,” owned by Elorg Company
5. Intel’s 5 note ding
6. “D’Oh” spoken by Homer is owned by Fox
7. The 9 bars of musical chord in the key of B Flat that typically opens a Twentieth Century Fox movie
8. Looney Toons Theme Song, owned by Time Warner
9. The spoken letters “AT&T” with a music in the background
10. “Cha-Ching,” owned by Checker’s Restaurants
11. “Yahoo!” sung in a yodeling style
12. Nokia’s default ringtone
13. Mister Softee’s Jingle
14. “Hello and Welcome to Moviefone,” owned by America Online
15. The sound of the crowd & bell from the New York Stock Exchange’s trading floor
16. TiVo’s popping sounds (in 2 and 6 tones)
17. Pillsbury Doughboy’s giggle

Can’t you just hear them already? If not, head over to the US and Patent Trademark Office where they have each of the sound files ready to refresh your memory.

Be sure to check out more of what Diana learned today here.

Shhh…super secret special for blog readers.

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Comments (46)

  1. Most of them came straight to mind when reading them, but there were at least 5 that I couldn’t figure out.

    posted by nutmeag on 8-12-2008 at 3:07 pm

  2. According to whom? I’ve never even heard of Mister Softee, let alone the jingle.
    What about the Windows startup sound?
    What about the Apple startup chime?

    This list is FAIL

    posted by wtf? on 8-12-2008 at 3:35 pm

  3. I don’t know a good half of these. Yay for being non-American

    posted by Amanda on 8-12-2008 at 3:46 pm

  4. I know that Zippo has trademarked the “klink” that the lighter makes when it is snapped open.

    posted by Gary on 8-12-2008 at 4:43 pm

  5. And how about the Olympic anthem? Someone has to own that.

    posted by AshleyG on 8-12-2008 at 6:16 pm

  6. What about the THX sound?

    posted by Austin on 8-12-2008 at 11:37 pm

  7. Has the BBC ever trademarked “Doctor Who”‘s TARDIS’s noise (a sort of “vworp-vworp” supposedly created by distorting the sound of someone dragging their housekeys over piano wire)?

    posted by Sam on 8-13-2008 at 12:46 am

  8. Diana Wolf, who wrote his post, selected her top 17. If you’d bother to click the link you’ll see that Microsoft is represented. To non-USians – tough luck, it says US Patent and Trademark Office.

    Mr. Softee rules.

    Yay for being American.

    posted by fixedgear on 8-13-2008 at 9:08 am

  9. what about Hello Moto?

    posted by doober on 8-13-2008 at 11:54 am

  10. This list is a bit short. There are a lot of recognized musical sounds…

    and Mr. Softee ROCKS!!

    Yay for ice cream!

    posted by Sandy on 8-13-2008 at 12:01 pm

  11. What about Darth Vader’s heavy breathing?

    posted by MTD on 8-13-2008 at 12:05 pm

  12. What about the NFL theme?

    posted by Jane on 8-13-2008 at 12:07 pm

  13. “You’ve Got Mail”

    posted by Jim on 8-13-2008 at 12:10 pm

  14. What about Curly’s whooping noises on “The Three Stoodges”?? That’s a Classic!

    posted by Daniel on 8-13-2008 at 12:10 pm

  15. What the heck are most of these? And where is “You’ve got mail”? Though old, everyone knows it.

    posted by Dave on 8-13-2008 at 12:12 pm

  16. what about godzilla roar???

    posted by emma on 8-13-2008 at 12:12 pm

  17. What a bout Mr Dildo? Don’t he get a patented sound?

    posted by deluge123 on 8-13-2008 at 12:13 pm

  18. I don’t recognize many of these.

    posted by Andrew on 8-13-2008 at 12:13 pm

  19. Seriously…. da-na-nuh, da-na-nuh… How is that not on the list?

    posted by Jesse on 8-13-2008 at 12:13 pm

  20. While not copywrited by Monty Python, there theme is very distinct.

    posted by Jack on 8-13-2008 at 12:14 pm

  21. What about “You’ve got Mail”

    posted by trojanav on 8-13-2008 at 12:14 pm

  22. can’t forget about “hello moto” – a motorola ringtone… who doesn’t know that? lol

    posted by andd64 on 8-13-2008 at 12:17 pm

  23. I wonder if Budweiser patented the phrase “WHUZZUUUUUUUUP!” ?

    posted by David J. Roberts on 8-13-2008 at 12:17 pm

  24. WHAT ABOUT THE FOLLOWING:

    XBOX
    AOL “You Got Mail”

    posted by rubixguru on 8-13-2008 at 12:19 pm

  25. Thats why Harley Davidson should be banned for noise pollution!!! Try having one started up at 5:30AM then just sit there and warm up for half an hour outside your bedroom window.

    posted by Sabre on 8-13-2008 at 12:19 pm

  26. i agree with amanda. do you actually think that americans are the only ones with the sense of sound?! apart from the MGM’s lion roar, the 20 century fox & looney tunes themes, i find them all ridiculously over estimated, with the minor exceptions of homer and the nokia tone – but believe me they’re dubious. “yahoo” in a yodeling style my a**

    posted by pam on 8-13-2008 at 12:20 pm

  27. I am surprised the Nextel/Sprint chirp wasn’t on that list.

    posted by Steve on 8-13-2008 at 12:20 pm

  28. can’t forget about “hello moto” – motorola’s awesome ringtone

    posted by andd64 on 8-13-2008 at 12:20 pm

  29. What about the “yell” that you hear, especially in the Indiana Jones and Star Wars movies when someone falls or dies.

    posted by CD on 8-13-2008 at 12:21 pm

  30. What about the dum-dum from Law & order?

    posted by Josh on 8-13-2008 at 12:22 pm

  31. What about the intro to “Star Wars”? Or for that fact, the into to any Star Trek movie/series….”Space, the final frontier….”?

    posted by J. Cuervo Sosa on 8-13-2008 at 12:26 pm

  32. The Olympic fanfare is not trademarked, however the term or word “Olympic” is. If you use the term or work Olympic you will get a cease and desist letter. Count on it.

    posted by Tom H on 8-13-2008 at 12:28 pm

  33. Also, Expedia.com

    posted by Matthew on 8-13-2008 at 12:32 pm

  34. what about Mario?!?! even gamers know the mario game sounds! and what about “you’ve got mail”?!

    Come on know people!

    posted by Jessica on 8-13-2008 at 12:33 pm

  35. What about the Law & Order theme. That show is on constantly. every in america hears it at least once a day.

    posted by GYB on 8-13-2008 at 12:44 pm

  36. What is Mister Softee?
    Where do they have Checkers Restaurants?

    posted by Leigh on 8-13-2008 at 12:45 pm

  37. Hmm I’m suprised the T-Mobile song isn’t up their. Also the Microsoft starting up computer melody.

    posted by Eric on 8-13-2008 at 12:46 pm

  38. Duracell’s 3 tone chime is a very familar one.

    posted by Ben on 8-13-2008 at 12:49 pm

  39. Duracell’s 3 tone chime is a very familar one.

    posted by Ben on 8-13-2008 at 12:50 pm

  40. god bless us all

    posted by tash on 8-13-2008 at 12:52 pm

  41. Tony the Tiger – “they’re grrrreeeeaattt!”

    posted by ME on 8-13-2008 at 12:53 pm

  42. I think some of you all “in the comments section” are getting confused between trademarks and copyrights.

    The Olympic Anthem (I think by John Williams), “the da-na-nuh, da-na-nuh” are probably copyrighted to the authors.

    a Trademark for a sound is odd, as a “sound” is not usually a “mark”

    posted by Paul S on 8-13-2008 at 12:55 pm

  43. Comments are going downhill since Floss got discovered. Glad your traffic is up, but am I the only guy who clicked the link?

    posted by fixedgear on 8-13-2008 at 2:24 pm

  44. Hey Amanda “non-american” drink your hatorade somewhere else-if you are so proud of your country’s trademark sounds then why don’t you create an article about them – oh wait – too much work perhaps?

    posted by Michelle on 8-13-2008 at 2:25 pm

  45. Mr. Softee? I’m pretty sure “Can you hear me now?” is trademarked, although it isn’t a sound.

    posted by Sara on 8-31-2008 at 3:04 pm

  46. And here I always thought one of the most recognizable sounds you could hear was a pump shotgun being racked.

    Everyone knows what that sounds like.

    posted by Robert on 7-14-2009 at 12:56 pm

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