Obtain A Trademark For Brand Protection

2007-11-09 05:11:17

( Legal )



If you want to protect the names, logos, and other commercial signifiers you use for identification of your products and services, you can obtain a trademark to prevent other businesses from using them. One of the objectives of the law protecting trademarks and service marks is similar to the reason why you need to get a patent for inventions: to avoid misleading the public as regards a certain product or invention.

A trademark is not only limited to a brand name or logo; you can also obtain a trademark for other nonfunctional but distinctive aspects such as shapes, sounds, smells, and letters that tend to promote and distinguish the product in the marketplace. If your business is engaged in the media and film industries, you can also obtain a trademark for the titles, characters, names, or other distinctive features of movies, television, and radio programs.

Note, however, that there are names/logos for which you cannot obtain a trademark. One of the reasons that you may not be able to obtain a trademark for a name or logo is due to its nonuse. The rights to a trademark are derived from its continued use in commerce. If you have discontinued using the mark for at least three years, you are presumed under the law to have abandoned it. You may want to contest its nonuse, but you have to prove it with the help of your attorney.

You also cannot obtain a trademark for generic terms describing class of goods or services, or an entire group. For example, there are brands of watches, but you cannot find a brand that is simply known as Watch. The reason why the law prohibits this kind of mark is to avoid monopoly of using the generic name for one product. Generic terms are freely used in conjunction with a trademark.


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