Trademarks are not limited to familiar brand names and logos. This lesson explores words, names, numbers, and other symbols or devices that may identify the source of goods or services. It also considers unusual forms of trademarks, such as scents and sounds, and explains why distinctiveness matters.
Words, phrases, and names are familiar forms of trademarks. A brand name or slogan can help consumers recognize who provides a product or service. But simply putting a word on a product does not automatically make it a protectable trademark.
All flashcards
Trademark distinctiveness
The capacity of a feature to help consumers identify a particular source rather than merely describe goods or services.
Numbers as trademarks
A number can identify a commercial source in context without restricting ordinary uses of that number, such as in mathematics.
Unusual trademarks
A scent or sound may function as a trademark when consumers recognize it as identifying a source and it is not merely functional.
Trade dress
The distinctive overall appearance or presentation of a product or service.
Design patent
Protection for a new and original nonfunctional ornamental design of an article, as defined by the patent.
Quiz questions
What must a logo or other design do to function as a design trademark?Answer: Distinguish the source of the associated goods or services.
What does trade dress protect when its requirements are met?Answer: A distinctive overall appearance or presentation of a product or service.
Which feature is the focus of a design patent?Answer: A new and original nonfunctional ornamental design of an article.
How does a design trademark differ from trade dress?Answer: A design trademark concerns a particular identifier; trade dress concerns broader overall appearance.
A lamp has a qualifying source-identifying logo and a new, nonfunctional ornamental shape. What is possible?Answer: Trademark and design-patent protection may apply to different features.