What is a trade-mark?
A trade-mark is a word (or words), a design, or a combination of these, used to identify the goods or services of one person or organization and to distinguish these goods or services from those of others in the marketplace.
Trade-marks come to represent not only the actual goods or services, but also the reputation, of the producer. As such, trade-marks constitute valuable intellectual property.
There are three types of trade-marks:
- An ordinary mark consists in a word (or words), a design, or a combination of these, used to identify the goods or services of one person or organization and to distinguish these goods or services from those of others in the marketplace. For example, suppose that you started a courier business, which you chose to call Giddy-up. You could register these words as a trade-mark (assuming all legal requirements were met) in regard to the service that you offer.
- A certification mark is used by an individual or organization and licensed to others for the purpose of identifying goods or services that meet a defined standard, for example, the Woolmark design, owned by Woolmark Americas Ltd., for use on clothing and other goods.
- A distinguishing guise consists in the shaping of goods or their containers, or a mode of wrapping or packaging goods, which distinguishes them as being produced by a specific individual or firm. For example, if you manufactured butterfly-shaped candy, you could register the butterfly shape as a distinguishing guise.
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