Trade Marks

A trade mark can be a word, phrase, letter, number, sound, scent, shape, logo, picture, aspect of packaging or a combination of these.

It is used to distinguish the goods and services of one trader from those of another. It could be the name of a company or its logo or other distinguishing signs such as slogans or aspects of packaging.

The difference between a trade mark and a design can be seen with French fashion house Hermès International. While HERMÈS is a trade mark, the appearance in the shape of its famous Kelly bag may have been registered as a design.

 

Your label is a valuable marketing tool. It is the name that customers identify with when they make a purchase. A distinctive trade mark should be an integral part of the marketing strategy for your goods and services. The public will identify a certain quality and image with goods and services bearing your trade mark. It can become an important means of maintaining goodwill with your clients and improving your bottom line.

...but it is advisable. After so much hard work building up a label, designers can’t afford to have competitors launching lines under deceptively similar brands. Although there is automatic protection against misrepresentation under common law, as well as the trade practices and fair trading legislation, this can be time-consuming and expensive.

British fashion house Burberry, which has held IP rights since 1905, won a clear US district court victory in 2006 against New York company Marco Leather. Marco Leather had imported and sold more than 100,000 counterfeit handbags, wallets and goods bearing the check and knight trade marks owned by Burberry. Marco Leather had also tried without success to register the trade marks as their own.

A trade mark that describes your goods or services is difficult to register. A trade mark must not be a sign that other traders may wish to use to promote or describe their goods and services, nor can it mislead the public about the nature of your goods and services. For example, the trade mark SOCKS for the goods of socks or the trade mark TAILOR for the services of tailoring, clothing design and manufacture are trade marks that would be difficult to register as these trade marks directly describe the goods or services covered. 

It is also very difficult to register a geographic name or a common surname as a trade mark. There may be an exception for an applicant who has used one extensively for a considerable period of time.

Before settling on a trade mark to register it is best to brainstorm a range of trade marks or logos which you think could be appropriate.

This should always be followed by a thorough search of the trade marks database and other goods and services existing in the market place to ensure that you won’t be infringing any existing trade marks.

Click here  to search the trade marks database.