is sir galahad or galahad (as in the knight) trademarked/protected or
in the public domain?

Hello holguinero-ga,

The character of Sir Galahad has been in English literature since even
before Sir Thomas Malory's Morte D'Arthur (or Morte Darthur), written
and published in the 15th century.  Here is a description of the
evolution of Galahad, a biographical sketch of Malory (noting that his
work was published as Morte D'Arthur in the 15th century), and links
to the chapters of Morte D'Arthur that mention the character Galahad:

"Galahad"
The Camelot Project at the University of Rochester
http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/galmenu.htm

"Malory, Sir Thomas" (The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001)
Bartleby.com
http://www.bartleby.com/65/ma/Malory-S.html

'Searched pages from www.sacred-texts.com for "morte d'arthur"
galahad'
Google
://www.google.com/search?q=+site:www.sacred-texts.com+%22morte+d%27arthur%22+galahad&num=30&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&start=0&sa=N

I don't know what country you are in, but I would be surprised if any
country has a law that would allow for a copyright of a character
created in the 13th or 15th century.  (As the disclaimer at the bottom
of this page states, Google Answers cannot provide professional legal
advice; but this is more a matter of common sense.)

However, specific versions of the character of Galahad may be under
copyright.  For example, if you wanted to put on a stage version of
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and include the same lines spoken by
the character of Sir Galahad and other characters in the film, you
would want to seek the permission of the copyright holder for that
screenplay or film.

In the U.S., it appears that this would be called a "derivative work".
 The U.S. Copyright Office explains: "A work that has fallen in the
public domain, that is, which is no longer protected by copyright, may
be used for a derivative work, but the copyright in the derivative
work will not restore the copyright of the public domain material. 
Neither will it prevent anyone else from using the same public domain
work for another derivative work."  So it seems that, at least in the
U.S., a character that was in the public domain remains in the public
domain, even if the new version of the character is copyrighted.

"Copyright Registration for Derivative Works" (Circular 14, Rev. June
2002) [quote taken from page 2]
U.S. Copyright Office
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ14.pdf

The name "Galahad" can also be trademarked for particular products or
services.  A search for "Galahad" on the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office's trademark database reveals several live trademarks.

"Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)" [search for: galahad]
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=tjposf.1.1

I hope that this information is helpful.  (As noted before, this
information is not legal advice; you should consult a lawyer if you
need a professional opinion.)

- justaskscott-ga


Search terms used on Google:

galahad
malory "morte d'arthur"
site:www.sacred-texts.com "morte d'arthur" galahad

[In addition to my Google searches, I browsed the web sites of the
U.S. Copyright Office and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.]

you seem to be a person that loves what they do and i appreciate the
thoroughness and fast work. thanks.

Howdy holguinero!

Because of the nature of the US Patent and Trademark Office's
web site, the URL given by justaskscott will "expire" and not
work.  Not justaskscott's fault, just the way that particular
web site works.  Instead, go to:

http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm

Click on the SEARCH trademarks (TESS) link on the upper left
side, then click on New User Form Search (Basic).

Type in your keyword (in this case, Galahad) in the box marked 
Search Term: then click the Submit Query button.

This will give you around 14 results and you can click on the
Serial Number to view the full record for any one trademark.

Hope this helps!  denco

Thanks, denco.  I had been aware of the problem on prior occasions,
and knew enough this time not to link to the results page -- but I
still linked to the wrong page.  I appreciate the correction.

Not a problem justaskscott; my pleasure; figured as much!

denco