Dwight Howard -- #Trademarking Los Angeles

Just days before Dwight Howard got officially traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, he was presciently #trademarking the city he will now call home ... and TMZ has the hashtag-tastic photo.

For the uninitiated, "trademarking" is the latest in social media photo trends -- a la Tebowing and planking -- and all the crazy kids are doing it (Cody Simpson and the Jenner sisters, to name a few).

Howard was outside the L'Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills (where Howard has been staying the past few months) earlier this week when he ran into Ryan Nassif (left to Dwight) whose dad Chris Nassif is a prominent talent agent and whose uncle is "Real Housewives" star Paul Nassif.

Ryan asked Dwight if he would partake in a little trademarking with him ... since the city would soon be his ... and the two posed for the pic with a few friends.