Basic information about trademarks
A suggestive trademark is like a descriptive mark in that it describes a quality or feature of the product or service. The difference is that it does not do it directly. It requires an additional step in the thinking process to make the connection. JAGUAR as a brand identifier for a motor vehicle is an […]
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A descriptive mark is one that describes a quality or feature of a product or service. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES is an example. “Business machines” is generic, of course. “International” is descriptive. It describes a quality or feature of these machines, namely, that they are marketed and/or used internationally. Descriptive marks may not be claimed as
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While there is nothing a trademark owner can do to guarantee that the trademark will never be lost through genericide, there are things a trademark owner can do to lessen the risk of genericide. Always using a trademark as an adjective to describe a particular brand of a product or service rather than as a
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Genericide occurs when a trademark becomes a common generic name for a product or service. ESCALATOR is an example. At one time, it was a trademark for a particular brand of moving stairway. After a while, people came to use it as a generic word for any moving stairway, from any source. Now it is
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Generic marks are words, symbols, etc. that describe an entire category of products or services rather than identifying a particular source of a product or service. Milk, if used as a trademark for milk, is an example. It identifies a product, not the source of it. Trademark rights cannot be claimed in generic terms for
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The 5-tier distinctiveness pyramid developed by Minnesota attorney Thomas James is a conceptual and visual aid for understanding the different levels of distinctiveness a trademark may have. The five levels, from least to most distinctive, are: Generic Descriptive Suggestive Arbitrary Fanciful.
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Use in intrastate commerce can satisfy the “use in commerce” requirement for a common law trademark. To qualify for federal registration, however, use in intrastate commerce alone is not enough. There must also be use in interstate or foreign commerce.
Yes, a domain name can be a trademark, but only if it functions as a brand identifier for a product or service. Merely reserving or registering a domain name with a registrar is not enough to establish trademark rights. To qualify as a trademark, it must be used as something more than just a web
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A business name is not necessarily a trademark. Merely using something as a business name does not count as “use in commerce” for a trademark. Business registration and/or internal use are not sufficient, either. To qualify as a use in commerce, the mark must appear on goods, labels, or in advertising that offer services to
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To qualify as a “use in commerce” for trademark purposes, a trademark must be used in a bona fide, ordinary commercial transaction. A token sale , that is, a sale that is made solely for the purpose of creating or preserving trademark rights, does not qualify as “use in commerce.” Sham transactions, such as pretended
