MEANING
A trademark is an intellectual property that is depicted as a visual symbol, label, sign or design in order to represent a product by a manufacturer. It helps customers distinguish the products or services of one company from the rest. The owner of a trademark may be any entity viz an individual, company, partnership, or other groups of persons.
Qualities Of A Good Trademark
- It must be capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one person from those of others.
- It may include shape of goods, their packaging and combination of colours.
- It should be easy to pronounce and remember if it is word mark.
- In case of a device mark -should be capable of being described by a single word.
- It was be easy to spell correctly and write legible.
- It should not be descriptive.
- It should be short.
- It should appeal to the eye as well as the ear.
Types of Trademarks
- Generic marks: Generic marks are the marks that cannot be qualified as a trademark. They are words or symbols that communicate what type of product or service is being offered. “Email” and “modem” are generic terms.
- Descriptive marks: The descriptive marks are the marks that describe one or more characteristics and has a primary and secondary unique element. The descriptive mark evolves from what the brand represents.
- Suggestive marks: Suggestive marks are the marks which suggest something about the product. E.g. Jaguar, Ninja and Trip Advisor .These names suggest something about their company.
- Fanciful marks: Fanciful marks are the marks which are different and unique and they don’t compete with any other marks. E.g. Kodak, Nokia, Adidas.
- Arbitrary marks: These are the marks that do not resemble their name and product. E.g. Apple, Blackberry.
- Service marks: It is the same as a Trademark, but different because it provides services rather than the product. E.g. McDonald’s, Domino’s, etc.
- Trade Dress: Trade dress helps to identify the product. E.g. Bottle cap of Listerine.
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