by A trademark is a recognizable insignia, phrase, word, or symbol that denotes a specific product and legally differentiates it from all other products of its kind. A trademark exclusively identifies a product as belonging to a specific company and recognizes the company’s ownership of the brand.
Similar to a trademark, a service mark identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product, and the term “trademark” is often used to refer to both trademarks and service marks. Trademarks are generally considered a form of intellectual property.
Understanding Trademarks
A trademark can be a corporate logo, a slogan, a brand, or simply the name of a product. For example, few would think of bottling a beverage and naming it Coca Cola or of using the famous wave from its logo. It is clear by now that the name “Coca Cola,” and its logo belong to The Coca-Cola Company (KO).
Trademarking, however, does contain some fuzzy boundaries because it prohibits any marks that have a “likelihood of confusion” with an existing one. A business cannot thus use a symbol or brand name if it looks similar, sounds similar, or has a similar meaning to one that’s already on the books—especially if the products or services are related.
Trademarks, Patents, and Copyrights
A trademark protects words and design elements that identify the source, owner, or developer of a product or service. Different than a trademark, a patent safeguards an original invention for a certain period of time, and there can be many different types of patents. Unlike patents, copyrights protect “works of authorship,” such as writing, art, architecture, and music.
Why Use a Trademark?
Individuals and companies have products or services trademarked to protect the product from being used without the permission of the source company. Most countries have patent laws that are designed to protect against copyright infringement.
Although most countries have agencies through which businesses can have their products trademarked, international copyright regulation is more complicated than india., as there exists no universally recognized patent office, rules, or consistency.
Types of Trademarks
A trademark offers legal protection for a word, symbol, phrase, logo, design, or combination of those that represents a source of goods or services. Types of trademarks for products include five main categories: generic mark, descriptive mark, suggestive mark, fanciful, and arbitrary mark.
- Generic Mark
A generic trademark actually doesn’t qualify for a trademark unless it includes more specific detail. One example of a generic mark is the phrase, “The Ice Cream Shop.” Offering trademark protection on something this generic would restrict all other shops that sell ice cream.
To qualify a generic mark for a trademark, it needs to describe qualities, characteristics, or ingredients of the good your business sells.
- Descriptive Mark
A descriptive mark identifies one or more characteristics of a prodct or service and only serves to describe the product. It has unique elements that qualify it for protection under trademark laws such as it must have secondary meaning such as amount and manner of advertising, volume of sales, length and manner of the mark’s use, or results of consumer surveys to qualify. This means that consumers must recognize the mark and identify it with the brand.
To qualify as a descriptive mark, it should evolve from what the brand represents to who the brand represents.
- Suggestive Mark
A suggestive mark implies something about the good or service. A mark in this category typically qualifies for protection without requiring a secondary meaning.
The term “suggestive” means that the customer must use the imagination to figure out what services or goods the company offers. One example is the luxury automotive brand, Jaguar. It suggests speed and agility, but doesn’t immediately convey a car manufacturer.
- Fanciful Mark
A fanciful mark is a term, name, or logo that is different from anything else that exists. This category is the easiest for obtaining trademark protection because it typically doesn’t compete with anything else or become too generic.
Examples of fanciful marks include Kodak, Nike, and Adidas. These words don’t hold any meaning in common language, so trademarking them doesn’t infringe on the rights of other companies that offer similar products.
- Arbitrary Mark
An arbitrary mark might include a term or phrase with a well-known meaning, but the meaning in its case is different. The best example of an arbitrary mark is Apple, the computer and electronics manufacturer. An apple is a familiar term, but in this case, the mark doesn’t have anything to do with the general meaning of the term.
For companies that offer services:
Service Mark
A service mark is the same as a trademark, but it distinguishes a company that provides services instead of products. A servce mark still falls under the legal trademark laws and must be registered with the USPTO.
A common example of a service mark would be the “McDonald’s” service mark since it is used to represent the services provided.
An additional form of legal protection for distinguishing businesses is:
Trade Dress
A trade dress includes identifying features of a product or company such as packaging elements, décor items, and other similar concepts. Product features don’t usually fall under a type of trademark for legal protection, but instead under trade dress protection. If a consumer identifies a specific feature or features with a brand or company instead of the actual product, the case for trade dress protection is strong.
One example of trade dress is the bottle of Listerine mouthwash. The unique flat shape of the bottle is easily identifiable to customers looking for Listerine, so it qualified for protection, which restricts others from producing a confusingly similar bottle design.
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