|
Creating a Trademark
Any name associated with a mark can be treated as a trademark.
The mark needs to be placed on the goods or with materials that
advertize the goods or services. These marks do not have to be
registered - these are described as common law trademarks. They lack
the protection of a mark that is registered with the United States
Patent and Trademark Office.
Registered trademarks are divided by the industry the mark is
used in and the strength of the trademark in relation to the
goods.
Trademark relationships are defined as:
1) Arbitrary or Fanciful - the strongest trademark. The mark has
no relation to the product. "Kodak" is the best example because the
word was created for use as a trademark.
2) Suggestive - the mark suggests a quality of the product.
3) Descriptive - the mark describes the product. This is a weak
trademark that requires "secondary meaning" in order to gain
trademark protection. Usually, it must be proven that the public can
identify the product comes from one producer.
4) Generic - these words can never be used as trademark
protection. For example, a company will never be able to protect the
word "Apple" in selling apples. "Apple" brand apples mean nothing
because the word is generic, unlike "Apple" brand computers, for
example.
What rights do I have?
|