Different Categories of Trademarks

Different Categories of Trademarks

A trade mark is a form of intangible asset for the company. It is in the form of an intellectual property. You can trademark anything that distinguishes your product from the others. Trademark is different from copyrights and patents, because they do not have a fixed term of expiry. They can be used as long as the company wants. There is just a small precondition here that the company has to pay the renewal fees to the United States Patent and Trademark office for its renewal every year. 

People generally have a notion that trademark is just one particular thing, but this is a wrong notion. In reality there are a lot of variations of trade mark. For instance there is a service mark, which is generally regarded as the trademark but there is a thin line of difference between the two. Service marks, as the name implies is meant to protect the service instead of the product. This service mark generally applies to names and symbols of the company.

A classic trademark is one that lends the identity to the underlying product. Trade mark should be one, the very usage of which creates the picture of the product in the minds of the consumer. Thus, trademark can be anything, with which the consumer can relate. It can be a name, symbol or even sound. For instance, one of the most dominant trademarks is coca cola .The very mention of this phrase is sufficient to denote what is being referred to. 

Both service and trade marks have a limitation to the area that they can protect. While acquiring a trademark, the acquirer has to clearly specify which industry or business his company belongs to. Trademarks ensure that no other company can copy the same trademark that lie in the same or related business. But in case someone wants to use that trade mark for a business in a different industry then there is no stopping him. It is entirely legal and falls within the realms of the patent and trademark act. 

For example, we all know of the Amazon online bookstores. So no other bookseller can use the name “Amazon”. The patent protects the user in the sense that no one from the same industry can use it, but someone can use that name Amazon if he is in the travel business or any other business not related to e-books or any other book stores. 

Trade marks play an important role for the product. The trade mark of Nike, a swoosh has become a symbol that the world recognizes. Same is the case with the symbol of Reebok. It is so, because these symbols can be used exclusively only by the said companies. No one else can have the same or a close replica of these symbols. If you want to give a particular symbol to your product, then it is prudent that you apply for the appropriate protection of your trade marks, so that you can have exclusive right over your trademark.