Dictionary Search: "Trademark" - Pakistan Law Portal

Arbitrary trademark

see trademark.

Aunt jemima doctrine. Trademarks

the principle that a trademark is protected not only from an act of direct copying, but also from the use of any similar mark that would likely make a buyer think that the item bearing the similar mark comes from the same source as the trademarked item. Aunt jemima mills co. V. Rigney & co., 247 f. 407 (2d cir. 1917); 15 usca § 1114.

Patent and Trademark Office

The Department of Commerce agency that examines patent and trademark applications, issues patents, registers trademarks, and furnishes patent and trademark information and services to the public. - Abbr. PTO.

Trademark

n. 1. A word, phrase, logo, or other graphic symbol used by a manufacturer or seller to distinguish its product or products from those of others. ( The main purpose of a trademark is to guarantee a product's genuineness. In effect, the trademark is the commercial substitute for one's signature. To receive federal protection, a trademark must be (1) distinctive rather than merely descriptive, (2) affixed to a product that is actually sold in the marketplace, and (3) registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In its broadest sense, the term trademark includes a servicemark. -Often shortened to mark. Cf. SERVICEMARK. 2. The body of law dealing with how businesses distinctively identify their products. See LANHAM ACT. "The protection of trade-marks is the law's recognition of the psychological function of symbols. If it is true that we live by symbols, it is no less true that we purchase goods by them. A trade-mark is a merchandising shortcut which induces a purchaser to select what he wants, or what he has been led to believe he wants. The owner of a mark exploits this human propensity by making every effort to impregnate the atmosphere of the market with the drawing power of a congenial symbol. Whatever the means employed, the aim is the same - to convey through the mark, in the minds of potential customers, the desirability of the commodity upon which it appears. Once this is attained, the trade-mark owner has something of value. If another poaches upon the commercial magnetism of the symbol he has created, the owner can obtain legal redress." Mishawaka Rubber & Woolen Mfg. Co. v. S.S. Kresge Co., 316 U.S. 203, 205, 62 S.Ct. 1022, 1024 (1942) (Frankfurter, J.). "A trademark functions on three different levels: as an indication of origin or ownership, as a guarantee of constancy of the quality or other characteristics of a product or service, and as a medium of advertisement. Thus, a trademark guarantees, identifies, and sells the product or service to which it refers. These three facets of a trademark - of differing importance at different times, in different lines of business and for different products or services - are somewhat correlative. The classical function, that of identification, has been primarily responsible for molding the development of trademark law. The significance of the guarantee function has been somewhat exaggerated, while the implications of the advertisement function still await full recognition in the law." 3 Rudolf Callmann, The Law of Unfair Competition, Trademarks and Monopolies § 17.01, at 2 (4th ed. 1998).

arbitrary trademark

A trademark containing common words that do not describe or suggest any characteristic of the product to which the trademark is assigned. - Also termed arbitrary mark.

certification trademark

See CERTIFICATION TRADEMARK.

collective trademark

See COLLECTIVE MARK.

descriptive trademark

See DESCRIPTIVE MARK.

fanciful trademark

A trademark consisting of a made-up or coined word; a distinctive trademark or tradename having no independent meaning. ( This type of mark is considered inherently distinctive and thus protected at common law, and is eligible for trademark registration from the time of its first use. -Also termed fanciful mark; fanciful term; coined term "Arbitrary or fanciful marks convey nothing about the nature of the product except through knowledge of the market. For instance, Kodak conveys nothing about photographic equipment except to those knowledgeable about that trade." Arthur R. Miller & Michael H. Davis, Intellectual Property in a Nutshell 168 (2d ed. 1990).

geographically descriptive trademark

See TRADEMARK.

registered trademark

A trademark that has been filed and recorded with the Patent and Trademark Office. ( A federally registered trademark is usu. marked by the symbol "(r)" so that the trademark owner can collect treble damages or the defendant's profits for an infringement. If the symbol is not used, the owner can still collect these damages or profits by proving that the defendant actually knew that the mark was registered.

strong trademark

See TRADEMARK,

suggestive trademark

A trademark that suggests rather than describes the particular characteristics of a product, thus requiring a consumer to use imagination to draw a conclusion about the nature of the product. ( A suggestive trademark is entitled to protection without proof of secondary meaning. See SECONDARY MEANING.

trademark infringement

The unauthorized use of a trademark - or of a confusingly similar name, word, symbol, or any combination of these - in connection with the same or related goods or services and in a manner that is likely to cause confusion, deception, or mistake about the source of the goods or services. See LIKELIHOOD-OF-CONFUSION TEST.

weak trademark

A trademark that is a meaningful word in common usage or that merely describes or suggests a product. ( This type of trademark is entitled to protectiononly if it has acquired distinctiveness over time. See SECONDARY MEANING.

weak trademark.