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Welcome to the first day of class! Before we get into the nitty gritty of trademarks, let’s go back to the beginning. And the beginning of the beginning is defining what a trademark is and what a trademark is not.
Here’s what the USPTO says: “A trademark can be any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things that identifies your goods or services. It’s how customers recognize you in the marketplace and distinguish you from your competitors.”
So, that’s clear, right? Mmhm, thought so. Let’s simplify this a bit.
First things first, we’re going to use the word trademark regardless if we’re talking about a business that sells products (i.e. goods) or services. Keep that in mind please.
Simply put, a trademark protects names, logos, or a combination thereof that are used for goods and/or services. Let’s break that down even further using examples:
· PEACE is the name of your new clothing line and your logo is the peace sign. Both of these things appear on the tags that are attached to the clothing items. You have a variety of designs and sayings that appear on the front of your clothing items, e.g. the front of a t-shirt.
· LOVE is the name of your daycare services. Your slogan, Love blooms here, appears on the web site, the brochures for new parents, the signage inside & outside of the facility. There are also multiple heart designs, created by you, used in your advertisements and on t-shirts worn by staff.
· HAPPINESS is the name you use for your invention, a new kind of food processor. You have stacks & stacks of technical documents explaining how your invention works and every page has the name at the top.
What do you think could be a trademark? What isn’t?
POSSIBLE TRADEMARKS:
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NOT A TRADEMARK:
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PEACE
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Name & heart logo as shown on the tags
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Designs & sayings on the front of the clothing
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LOVE
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Name; slogan since it identifies the services and is used in the offering of those services
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Multiple heart designs
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HAPPINESS
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Name of the food processor
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Technical documents
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As you can see, the common denominator for those possible trademarks is that (1) they are names or logos or slogans and (2) are used to identify the source of the products (i.e. goods) and services. This last point is often a sticky wicket for folks. Let’s break these examples down even further to differentiate the source from the goods/services created.
PEACE and the logo identify the source (the clothing line) of the goods (the individual clothing items with the designs & sayings on them)
LOVE and the slogan identify the source (the daycare) of the services. In other words, that’s the name & slogan of the business.
HAPPINESS identifies the source of the tangible good (the food processor). This is the name that will be on the product itself, the tags, labels, packaging, etc.
Tomorrow, we’ll talk about what a trademark is not and, furthermore, how the examples of non-trademarks can be protected.
1 comment:
A trademark is a symbol; it can be a word, name, picture, label or sound used by a business to differentiate its goods or services from similar goods and services. Trademark authorities exist to ensure that existing trademarks are protected against those that look or sound similar. Once registered, a trademark is a valuable asset for any business as it projects unique positioning to consumers. Registering a trademark will also prevent future disputes and potential litigations, thus allowing brand owners to focus on the important task of building brand trust and familiarity.
Trademark owners can use ™ once the application is accepted by the authority and the marks are published in the Trademark Gazette for opposition from general public, and ® can be used once the registration is completed. The registration is valid for 10 years and will lapse if not renewed.
Registering a company name with Registrar of Companies is not enough to protect your trademark. It’s important that you register your trademark with Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks
For more information visit to https://indiatrademarkwatch.com/
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