Word marks, called “standard character marks” by the USPTO, can contain (surprise!) only standard characters. These include: Latin characters, Roman and Arabic numerals, Common punctuation marks, Diacritical marks (such as an umlaut or tilde), Stylized elements, such as font, color, size, and spacing are irrelevant to word marks and do not receive protection. Because stylized elements are left out, word marks are a common trademark choice not just for brand names, but for slogans and taglines as well.