Reputation and goodwill

Purpose of trader's choosing distinctive or novel trade mark is to keep his goods or service distant from the possibility of being taken as competitor's goods or services

Reason for creation of intellectual property legal system is to provide for mechanism for the protection and offering rewards to creativity and fair trade

Legislation on trade marks aims to protect the goodwill and clientele of person who first creates or adopts trade mark to let the consumers know that another product or service is available to them through this new source

Lesser the confusion as to the source of two different originators of identical goods and service, the lesser the misunderstanding will arise in the mind of common public, and at the same time, the creator's intellectual ingenuity remains protected and the hard work by the first creator/adopter of the trade mark is rewarded through the scheme of trade mark laws

Legal system was built upon protecting the hard work, ingenuity and goodwill of a person who is first one to use a trade mark, trade name or any other similar identifier (including domain name etc.) from the attacks made by competitors

Competitors, who try to disguise themselves by using similar, or confusingly similar, trade mark, have two fold objectives: firstly, they illegally benefit themselves from fruits of goodwill and reputation laboured by the original creator; and, secondly, they deceive public at large as to the true source of the goods or services in question.