Trademarks

What are trademarks?

Trademarks are “any word, name, symbol, or device…. to identify and distinguish [a manufacturer’s] goods…from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the sources of the goods…” In other words, it identifies the source of goods and services. It is a way which allows a person to know the product they are using comes from a specific source in the marketplace. This allows consumers to return to the same source for the goods and services they want. They help promote the quality of the goods and establish a company’s brand.

What can be trademarked?

A wide variety of things may be trademarked, including names, symbols, slogans, designs, sounds, colors, smells, and recently, domains. The rumble of a Harley-Davidson engine is a classic example of the flexibility of trademarks. This sound is indeed registered and Harley-Davidson has filed lawsuits to protect it.

Three subcategories of marks exist: trade name, trademark, and service mark. A trade name identifies a company or business; whereas a trademark identifies the goods of a company. A service mark identifies the services of a company.

Standing Out From the Competition

In order to be an effective and protected mark, the mark must be distinctive – capable of identifying the source from which it comes. The more unique the mark is, the stronger it is. Distinctiveness is measured on a spectrum of five levels: Generic, Descriptive, Suggestive, Arbitrary, and Fanciful.

1. Generic – This term is normal, and an everyday name of a type of good or service. Names such as carwash, pizza, and toothpaste fall under this category. Generic terms are in fact the exact opposite of trademarks, since they are incapable of serving as an identifier for its source. There is a process known as “genericide”, wherein a well-established trademark loses its distinctiveness and become the new generic term for a product. These marks are no longer entitled to any form of protection. Former trademarks that have suffered genericide include bleach, cola, escalator, thermos, and zipper.

2. Descriptive – Descriptive marks are those that immediately bring to mind the characteristics, features, and qualities of the product and/or service, such as its composition, functions, ingredients, purpose, and/or use. These marks are often eligible for a form of limited protection. One example is Vision Center™, where the word “vision” brings eye care services to the mind.

3. Suggestive – Suggestive marks are words that arouse an attribute or a characteristic of the products or services it represents, but does not describe the products or services themselves. As opposed to a mere descriptive mark, suggestive marks require the consumer to apply their creative ability, in order to associate the word with the product. Coppertone^® implies a “copper tone” for consumers with their tanning products, and Microsoft^® signifies software.

4. Arbitrary – Arbitrary marks are words which have no logical relationship to the product. Even generic terms applied to unrelated products and services are considered Arbitrary. Some examples are Apple^®, which makes computers and electronics, andPenguin^®, which publishes books.

5. Fanciful – Fanciful marks are the strongest and most unique marks of all. These words are completely new and invented for the sole purpose of being used as a brand and a trademark for the company. We see these quite often in corporate giants, such as Clorox^®, Exxon^®, Google^®, and Starbucks^®.