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DEFINITION OF
TRADEMARK
A trademark is defined under the
Lanham Act 1976 as a word, name,
symbol, device or other designation, or a
combination of such designations, that is
distinctive of a persons goods or
services and that is used in a manner
that identifies and distinguishes them
from the goods or services of others.
Trademarks in general are
used to distinguished a
companys goods or services
from others.
5 Classifications of
Trademarks:
1. Generic marks:
do not receive protection because
they do not distinguish a businesss
mark from other products or
services.
E.g., Instant Message and You
Have Mail.
2. Descriptive marks:
do not receive protection unless the applicant
can prove the marks is either inherently
distinctive or has acquired a secondary meaning
in the marketplace.
A domain name, e.g., www.ford.com is merely a
business address on the Internet, and without
use in commerce to identify the service or
product sold is not a trademark.
A secondary meaning does not require that the
trademark be inherently distinctive, as long as
there is a change in the public perspective about
the meaning of the trademark. (e.g., Kentucky
Fried Chicken)
3. Suggestive marks:
Suggest some quality of the
product or service.
E.g., Coopertone
4. Arbitrary marks:
Without any inherent relationship
to the product. They are words
used in an unusual way to help the
public remember the trademark
owner.
E.g., Amazon and Banana Republic
5. Fanciful marks:
Also have no inherent relationship
to the product.
E.g., the board games trademark
Candyland and Kodak.
The last three categories;
suggestive, arbitrary and
fanciful, generally trademark
protection because they are
automatically inherently
distinctive.
TAKE FIVE
WHAT IS A DOMAIN
NAME?
A domain name is simply a textual
address by which anyone can find
your host machine on the Internet.