Picking a mark to represent your brand can be one of the most important decisions you make. Think about the brands we see everyday. Apple. Coca Cola. Microsoft. These are immediately identifiable both with the company and the products they produce.
Just how strong is your trademark?
On one end of the spectrum, are descriptive or generic marks. These are the weakest marks, and either can’t be trademarked, or require that the mark acquire secondary meaning first.
Proceeding by increased strength are suggestive, arbitrary, and fanciful terms. Each has it’s own requirements for trademark registration, with fanciful being the strongest of all marks and most likely to receive trademark registration.
The benefits to trademark registration are numerous. In order to receive the benefits of trademark registration, care should be taken to select a mark that is high on the scale below.
These issues should be considered when determining whether to apply for trademark registration, or even better, before significant investment is made into building a brand.
You can see each type of trademark strength, plus examples, in the infographic below. If you’re in the branding stages of your company, or considering a rebrand, keep it handy! You’re going to use this guide for reference as you develop ideas to identify your brand.
The answer to this question is complex and nuanced. In the last decade or so, it has become fashionable to insist there is some stark dichotomy between what a trademark is and what a brand is. But the difference is not as stark as some marketers would like you to believe. The traditional definition of […]
The Circle R and the TM symbols both relate to trademarks and both can be physically placed on products, packaging, advertising materials, websites, etc. The Circle R symbol is an “R” enclosed in a circle (®). While both are trademark-related symbols, there are different eligibility requirements for use, meanings, and implications. Here is a quick […]
E-commerce businesses must comply with federal and State-level advertising laws and regulations. This is true of any business. But e-commerce businesses face special challenges because there is a whole array of potential methods of innocently, accidentally, or intentionally violating advertising laws. These include the potential to engage in false and deceptive advertising practices, such as […]