Trademark safety is granted for words, symbols and graphics that identify products of one company as different from others. The main aim of trademarks is to make sure that the consumers are not subjected to any confusion in relation to the origin of the product.
One of the most important requirements for a trademark is that it needs to be distinctly recognizable and different from other marks that are already there in the market. The distinctiveness of a trademark can be determined by slotting it in one of the trademark groups - suggestive, descriptive, fanciful, and generic.
A descriptive mark is one that describes a product in terms of its quality or characteristics like odour, functionality, form etc. Unlike those marks that are unique to a specific product, a descriptive mark is not distinctive and can not usually be trademarked unless it has taken a secondary identification and the customers begin linking it exclusively with the commodity.
Suggestive marks are indicators towards a particular product feature or quality. However, customers might have to use their imagination to identify the real link between the product and the mark as there is no evident connection between the two. For instance, footwear named 'Hush Puppies' are suggestive of comfortable shoes, which make sure that your feet do not become sore. The prime reason behind such a name is that 'barking dogs' is slang for sore feet in some states in America.
On the other hand, fanciful marks are those that are not linked to the commodity. For example, the usage of the name 'Apple' for computers is totally disconnected from the product it signifies. Arbitrary marks are those that are not used in current languages and have come from the imagination of the manufacturer, such as 'Exxon'.
Lastly generic marks are the ones that represent a general category of the item like 'olive oil', and they cannot be granted any protection under trademark laws.
One of the most important requirements for a trademark is that it needs to be distinctly recognizable and different from other marks that are already there in the market. The distinctiveness of a trademark can be determined by slotting it in one of the trademark groups - suggestive, descriptive, fanciful, and generic.
A descriptive mark is one that describes a product in terms of its quality or characteristics like odour, functionality, form etc. Unlike those marks that are unique to a specific product, a descriptive mark is not distinctive and can not usually be trademarked unless it has taken a secondary identification and the customers begin linking it exclusively with the commodity.
Suggestive marks are indicators towards a particular product feature or quality. However, customers might have to use their imagination to identify the real link between the product and the mark as there is no evident connection between the two. For instance, footwear named 'Hush Puppies' are suggestive of comfortable shoes, which make sure that your feet do not become sore. The prime reason behind such a name is that 'barking dogs' is slang for sore feet in some states in America.
On the other hand, fanciful marks are those that are not linked to the commodity. For example, the usage of the name 'Apple' for computers is totally disconnected from the product it signifies. Arbitrary marks are those that are not used in current languages and have come from the imagination of the manufacturer, such as 'Exxon'.
Lastly generic marks are the ones that represent a general category of the item like 'olive oil', and they cannot be granted any protection under trademark laws.
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