Canopus Verbiage Guide

The purpose of the Canopus Verbiage Guide is to provide clear and simple rules for grammar, spelling and word usage for all Canopus marketing materials, as well as for editorial copy written about Canopus and its products. The impetus for compiling this guide was to enforce a standard set of English grammar rules and to help minimize and eventually eliminate inconsistencies, so that our message is conveyed in a clear, concise and eloquent manner.

If you have questions or would like to suggest additions or changes to this guide, please contact the Marketing Department at your nearest Canopus office.

Product Names and Trademark Attributions

Check the Product name lists (choose one from column on the right) for proper spelling, capitalization and the appropriate trademarking symbol to use.

Use the appropriate trademarking symbols (® or ™) on the first product reference only; subsequent references do not require symbols.

Use the registered trademark symbol (®) on the first mention of Canopus only when it is used as a brand name appearing before a product name.

When referring to Canopus as a brand, for example: Canopus® hardware and software, do apply trademarking if it is the first time Canopus is mentioned in the document.
When referring to Canopus as an organization, for example: hardware and software from Canopus, do not apply trademarking.

Be sure to include, in the legal copy, the appropriate trademark attribution. Whenever a Canopus product name appears, use the trademark attribution copy found on that product's individual product resource page. Unless otherwise instructed by a marketing partner, when a third-party product name appears be sure to include the following verbiage: All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Industry Technical Terms

There are many technical terms used in the video and film industry. You will see them spelled and capitalized in a variety of different ways. Please help us keep our materials consistent by consulting and adhering to the spellings and capitalization found in our listing of Industry Technical Terms.

Grammar and Punctuation Notes

ampersand (&)

Use the ampersand only when it is part of a company’s formal name, for example: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The ampersand should not otherwise be used in place of the word "and."

comma (,), semi-colon (;) and colon (:)

The most frequent use of a colon is at the end of a sentence to introduce lists, tabulations, texts, etc.

hyphenated words

When a hyphenated word is capitalized, as in a title or headline, the portion of the word after the hyphen is not capitalized, for example: Full-motion Video is Here! There are a few exceptions to this rule, such as S-Video.

numbers

Typically, spell out whole numbers below 10; use numerals for 10 and above -- unless the numbers appear in technical information or instructions, in which case numerals can and should be used consistently, for specificity.

possessive

While it is not incorrect grammatically, to form the possessive of a proper noun ending in "s" by adding an apostrophe and an additional "s," for example: Canopus's, we prefer not to use this form when it comes to the brand name. Instead, rewrite to avoid this usage.

Do not write: When it comes to realtime editing of HDV and other MPEG formats, Canopus's leadership in advanced video codec technologies becomes clear.
Preferred rewrite: When it comes to realtime editing of HDV and other MPEG formats, the leadership of Canopus in advanced video codec technologies becomes clear.

units of measurement

There should be no space between the numeral representing the amount and the notation for standard units, for example: 40GB, 900MHz, 29.97fps, 44.1kHz

Product Names

Industry Technical Terms

Grammar/Punctuation Notes