Intellectual Property?

The United States Patent and Trademark Office offers protection for intellectual property.  One of those protections is the trademark.  A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination thereof, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others. Having the trademark allows the owner to use it and to bring action concerning it in federal court.  (USPTO.gov)

But what about trademarking your name?  It would allow the use of the little R in circle.  (Although if your name was LISA it would become LISAR).  "A trademark allows a person to take legal action against anyone using a name for a gain without permission, which is why many celebrities do it. (PersonalMoneyStore.com)


Rarely do politicians do it.  So, the question is out there.  Is Sarah Palin really a politician?  Palin recently filed paperwork with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark her name.  She obviously is selling herself and has developed the "Sarah Palin" brand.  They are also trademarking Bristol, who's become something of a celebrity brand in her own right.  But she is definitely more "celebrity" than "politician".   (Yahoo.com)


So, is Sarah(R) a celebrity or a politician?  Is she a presidential hopeful or more the Levi Strauss pair of jeans? 

And really, intellectual Property??