A trademark is a…
sign often referred to as a “brand” or “logo” and is used to distinguish the goods or services of one trader from those of other traders in the marketplace. Trademarks include words, names, symbols and logos. Anything that distinctly identifies your company can be a trademark.
The term “Trademark”, can include any device, brand, label, name, signature, word, letter, numerical, shape of goods, packaging, colour or combination of colours, smell, sound, movement or any combination thereof which is capable of distinguishing goods and services of one business from those of others.
A trademark may be located on a package, a label, a voucher or on the product itself. Trademarks represent not only actual goods and services, but are a symbol representing the good name of your business and as such, provide your business with long-term protection.
Generally, a trademark can be registered if the Trademarks Examiner is able to distinguish the goods or services of a party, is satisfied that the subject of the trademark will not confuse consumers about the relationship between one commercial party and another, and will not otherwise deceive consumers with respect to the qualities of the trademarked good.
Different goods and services have been classified by the International Classification of Goods and Services into 45 Trademark Classes (1 to 34 cover goods, and 35 to 45 services). Trademark rights generally come about due to usage, or a desire to maintain exclusive rights over a sign in relation to a product or service, and subject to no objections.
Specialised types of trademark include certification marks, collective trademarks and defensive trademarks.
Registration of your trademark generally gives you the exclusive right to use the mark for 10 years, renewable every 10 years thereafter.
When to use the symbols ® and ™
Once a trademark is registered, the ® symbol may be legally used against the trademark.
A ™ symbol indicates that a trader is using a sign as a trademark and is applying to have this registered.
Once you lodge your application for a trademark you can lawfully use the ™ symbol while registration is pending. It usually takes approximately nine months to register a trademark in Australia and 12 months for a UK, US or EU application.
A trademark expert will offer advice on how best to describe the goods and services for now and for the future protection of your brand. As with anything, you pay for what you get, if you do not get the correct advice, the scope of the trademark protection may be limited.
Trademarks have been around for a long time. Some well-known brands have been trademarked, for example Brewer Löwenbräu has claimed the use of its lion mark since 1383 in its country of origin.
Did you know that the largest “fast fashion” chain ZARA had to change their name in 1975 from ZORBA to ZARA due to the fact that a Zorba, was a name of a bar in the same city and they saw the potential for confusion in the market place. They changed it to ZARA and trademarked it in the countries they traded in as they saw the benefit of owning the brand outright.