The Country Music Association throws a huge party every June. Last year an estimated 80,000 people attended per day. While it doesn't make the list of top ten music festivals by attendance, it certainly makes for a busy week here in Nashville.

There are many performers with varying fanbases, and so I thought it would be interesting to check and see how the country music industry is doing on basic trademark hygiene (meaning how many of the performers have registered a trademark for their stage names/band names).

Because the lineup is so long, I limited the review to just the acts on Saturday and Sunday.

I was quite surprised (and a little disappointed) that so few of the performers had registered a trademark for their stage/band names, especially considering the relatively low cost of doing so. It may be that many of these musicians are performing solo, rather than with their bands. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt.

Of course the benefits of registering a trademark are:

Presumption of Rights Across the Entire U.S. as of the Application Date

Notice to the public of your rights in U.S.

After 5 years, your rights can become incontestible (sort of like unchallengable)

You can use the ® on advertising if you're into that

You can sometimes get additional damages (sometime treble) if someone infringes

Keeps others from getting similar trademark registrations for similar services

U.S. customs can block imports of counterfeit goods with your mark on them (additional registration after getting a trademark registration)

Here's the current lineup of artists for the CMA Music Festival 2015 for Saturday and Sunday including whether the artist currently has a registered trademark for the name listed:

ArtistRegistration No.Aaron ParkerNone FoundAaron WatsonNone FoundAdam CraigNone FoundAdam SandersNone FoundAmber CarringtonNone FoundAmber HayesNone FoundAshley CampbellNone FoundBaillie & The BoysNone FoundBig Smo4095762Ben RueNone FoundBrad BlackburnNone FoundBrad Paisley3894749Branch & DeanNone FoundBrent RupardNone FoundBrett EldridgeNone FoundBrett YoungNone FoundBrian CollinsNone FoundBucky CovingtonNone FoundCaitlyn SmithNone FoundCarlton AndersonNone FoundCanaan SmithNone FoundCarrie Underwood3415693Casey Donahew BandNone FoundCassadee PopeNone FoundCharlie WorshamNone FoundCharles EstenNone FoundChris CarmackNone FoundChris CavanaughNone FoundChris JansonNone FoundChris LaneNone FoundChris YoungNone FoundClare BowenNone FoundCJ SolarNone FoundCole SwindellNone FoundCole TaylorNone FoundCorey Smith3251674Corey Kent WhiteNone FoundCraig Wayne BoydNone FoundDanielle BradberyNone FoundDarin & Brooke AldridgeNone FoundDarius RuckerNone FoundDavid BallNone FoundDavid RayNone FoundDean AlexanderNone FoundDiamond Rio1813523, 1700890DJ DUNone FoundDrew BaldridgeNone FoundDustin LynchNone FoundEric ChurchNone FoundEMI SunshineNone FoundErik DylanNone FoundFriends of LolaNone FoundGeorge DucasNone FoundGreg BatesNone FoundGunnar & The Grizzly BoysNone FoundHaley GeorgiaNone FoundHailey WhittersNone FoundHannah BlaylockNone FoundHome FreeNone FoundHunter PhelpsNone FoundJacob DavisNone FoundJaida DreyerNone FoundJamie Lynn SpearsNone FoundJameson RodgersNone FoundJason Michael CarrollNone FoundJessica MackNone FoundJessie ChrisNone FoundJoel CrouseNone FoundJohn & JacobNone FoundJohn Wesley SatterfieldNone FoundJack IngramNone FoundJackie LeeNone FoundJeston CadeNone FoundJo Dee MessinaNone FoundJoe HallNone FoundJoey HydeNone FoundJohn BerryNone FoundJon LangstonNone FoundJosh MirendaNone FoundJoshua OkeefeNone FoundJT HodgesNone FoundJustin AdamsNone FoundKalisa EwingNone FoundKane BrownNone FoundKatie ArmigerNone FoundKelleigh BannenNone FoundKellie PicklerNone FoundKeith AndersonNone FoundKeith Urban2886341, 2886338Ken MellonsNone FoundKristian BushNone FoundKristen KellyNone FoundKristen MerlinNone FoundKristy Lee CookNone FoundLancoNone FoundLauren Alaina4283710, 4289859Lauren JenkinsNone FoundLee GreenwoodNone FoundLittle Big Town2505182LonestarNone FoundLove and TheftNone FoundLyndsey HighlanderNone FoundLynn AndersonNone FoundMaggie RoseNone FoundMamadearNone FoundMandy BarnettNone FoundMark WillsNone FoundMarshall Tucker Band4616428, 4616427Michael RayNone FoundMichaelisNone FoundMike RyanNone FoundMitchell LeeNone FoundMitchell TenpennyNone FoundNeal McCoyNone FoundOutshyneNone FoundParmalee4186213Patrick ThomasNone FoundPhil VassarNone FoundRandy HouserNone FoundRick MonroeNone FoundRussell DickersonNone FoundRyan GriffenNone FoundRyan KinderNone FoundRandy Houser4356483Ray ScottNone FoundRonnie McDowellNone FoundRuthie CollinsNone FoundRyan GriffenNone FoundRyan KinderNone FoundSammy ArriagaNone FoundSammy SadlerNone FoundSarah Dunn BandNone FoundSavannah BerryNone FoundSavannah KeyesNone FoundStephanie Quayle4442879Steven ClawsonNone FoundSong Suffragettes4715431Stella JamesNone FoundSteven Lee OlsenNone FoundStriking Matches4353602Sunny SweeneyNone FoundSweethearts of the RodeoNone FoundT Graham BrownNone FoundTanya TuckerNone FoundTate StevensNone FoundThe GrascalsNone FoundThe LacsNone FoundThe Swon BrothersNone FoundThompson Square4086943, 4086942Travis DenningNone FoundTucker BeathardNone FoundTyler FarrNone FoundVanessa BransanNone FoundWade HayesNone FoundWilliam Michael MorganNone FoundWynonna & The Big Noise4025727, 4025728 (WYNONNA)

You can quickly and easily search for trademarks at http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4810:mjvdr.1.1

If you just need to check to see if a particular word is registered, the basic search will do. If you need to search by owner, then you'll need to select that option in the drop down menu before searching. If you want to get fancy, you can use the Free Form search. Note that you may want to read the help page before doing that as the search terms are a little cumbersome.