Most creative professionals and designers encounter trademarks more often than they realize.  Despite this fact, it is surprising that many don’t know what a trademark is or why trademarks are important.  The purpose of this column is to introduce you to trademarks, provide a few tips for how to select and protect your trademarks, and clarify several misconceptions about trademarks that may help you avoid some common mistakes. Let’s get started…

A trademark can be any word, phrase, slogan, name, symbol, logo, design, or combination of those elements that is used to identify and distinguish one’s goods or services.  The most basic description of a trademark is that it is a product’s brand name. A trademark is different than a trade name, which is the name that a business trades under for commercial purposes.  A business’ trademark and trade name can be the same, but they don’t need to be.

Many small businesses and entrepreneurs confuse the two and assume that registration of a trade name with their state of incorporation gives them the right to use that name as a trademark to identify their goods or services.  This is incorrect and can be a dangerous misconception; particularly, if there is a third party using a trademark similar to your trade name.

Coverage by: David Sherman

Have a question?  Contact David at david.sherman [at] kattenlaw [dot] com