A trademark (Commonwealth English: trade mark) is conventionally a distinctive sign of some kind, whether that sign comprises a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, picture, styling or a combination of one or more of these elements. A trademark is used by a business to identify itself and its products or services to consumers, and to set itself and its products or services apart from other businesses. A trademark is a type of intellectual property, and in particular, a type of industrial property.
The essential function of a trademark is to uniquely identify the commercial source or origin of products or services, such that a trademark, properly called, is used to 'indicate source' or act as a 'badge of origin'. The use of a trademark in this way is known as 'trademark use' and a trademark owner seeks to enforce its rights or interests in a trademark by preventing unauthorised trademark use.
As any sign which is capable of performing the essential trademark function may qualify as a trademark, the trademark concept extends to include a range of non-conventional signs such as shapes (ie. three-dimensional trademarks), sounds, smells, moving images (eg. signs denoting movement, motion or animation), taste, and perhaps even texture. However, the extent to which such non-conventional trademarks can be protected or even recognised varies considerably from country to country)
Trademark rights, such as the right to exclusive use of a trademark, generally derive only through use (i.e.. actual use in the marketplace) or registration (ie. filing an application and obtaining registration with the trade mark office) in a particular jurisdiction. Such rights will only apply in that jurisdiction, a quality which is sometimes known as ‘territoriality’. However, there are a range of international trademark laws and systems which facilitate the protection of trademarks around the world (see 'International trade mark laws' below). |
