subject: Understanding Trademark Law Can Improve Safe Trading Practice [print this page] Trademark Law
The trademark law governs the usage of trademarks and entitles the company that has registered its trademark to use it while limiting others from infringing upon the trademark intentionally or unintentionally. The trademark law explains what can be considered a trademark and what cannot be considered a unique trademark. There are instances when just a color or a design in a particular color is accepted as a trademark.
What Is A Trademark?
A trademark can be a name or design of the logo, a slogan, or a combination of all these that helps in identifying the goods or products of the company. The trademark helps in differentiating or distinguishing similar products of different companies.
Benefits Of A Trademark
Trademarks benefit a company in branding its products. This creates brand awareness and popularity for the company. Trademarks help in making a mark in the general publics mind about a specific set of goods and services offered by the owner of the trademark. For example, when we see the trademark apple, we know that they belong to Apple computers. Thus, a trademark helps in identifying the product and the values, ethics, policies, and goods that the company stands for.
Benefits Of Trademark Law, Infringement, And Safe Trading Practices
Trademark law clarifies the ownership of a trademark and its usability and limits others from using it or another similar mark that can confuse the public. This is applicable to trademarks used for business, marketing, and sales purposes. If a companys trademark is referenced in educational material or in any other context different from trading purposes, it is not considered a violation of the trademark law. A trademark can be protected with trademark registration.
Trademark law came into practice mainly to prevent infringement of trademarks. If unauthorized trademarks create confusion, the company may suffer financial loss and loss of reputation. If the company does not protect its trademark and allows it to be used by unauthorized parties, the trademark may lose its value. In that case, even trademark law cannot protect the trademark, and it will not be considered unique. One classic example is the word cellophane.
Trademark law entails severe penalties for wrongful usage of trademarks not owned or registered by a company. In order to ensure safe trading, one needs to do a trademark search before embarking on a journey with a particular trademark. If a particular trademark is claimed by someone else, it is safer to change to something different.
It is not possible to check trademarks of all companies across the globe; the trademarks used in a particular country can be searched and compared. Having a similar trademark can affect business negatively or sometimes positively as well. However, even if the impact is positive in terms of business, it is better to steer clear of such usage, as the original company may file suits against wrongful usage. This may lead to severe penalties, and a company may even be stripped off of the rights to use that trademark.
by: Jane M Dawson
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