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Trademark 

A trademark or trade mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual,

business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services 

to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and todistinguish its products or services from those of other entities.

A trademark is designated by the following symbols:

•  ™  (for an unregistered trademark, that is, a mark used to promote or brandgoods);

• ℠ (for an unregistered service mark , that is, a mark used to promote or brand

services); and

• ® (for a registered trademark).

A trademark is a type of  intellectual property, and typically a name, word, phrase,logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of these elements. [2] There is also a

range of  non-conventional trademarks comprising marks which do not fall into

these standard categories.

The owner of a registered trademark may commence legal proceedings for  trademark  

infringement to prevent unauthorized use of that trademark. However, registration is not

required. The owner of a common law trademark may also file suit, but an unregistered

mark may be protectable only within the geographical area within which it has been usedor in geographical areas into which it may be reasonably expected to expand.

The termtrademark 

is also used informally to refer to any distinguishing attribute bywhich an individual is readily identified, such as the well known characteristics of celebrities. When a trademark is used in relation to services rather than products, it may

sometimes be called a service mark. 

Symbols

The two symbols associated with U.S. trademarks ™ (the trademark symbol) and ® (the

registered trademark symbol) represent the status of a mark and accordingly its level of  protection. While ™ can be used with any common law usage of a mark, ® may only be

used by the owner of a mark following registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark 

Office (USPTO or PTO) and designates such. The proper manner to display either symbol is immediately following the mark in superscript style.

Terminology 

Terms such as "mark", " brand" and "logo" are sometimes used interchangeably with

"trademark". "Trademark", however, also includes any device, brand, label, name,

signature, word, letter, numerical, shape of goods, packaging, colour or combination

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of colours, smell, sound, movement or any combination thereof which is capable of 

distinguishing goods and services of one business from those of others. It must be

capable of graphical representation and must be applied to goods or services for which itis registered.

Specialized types of trademark include certification marks, collective trademarks anddefensive trademarks. A trademark which is popularly used to describe a product or 

service (rather than to distinguish the product or services from those of third parties) issometimes known as a genericized trademark . If such a mark becomes synonymous with

that product or service to the extent that the trademark owner can no longer enforce its

 proprietary rights, the mark becomes generic.

A registered trademark confers a  bundle of exclusive rights upon the registered owner,including the right to exclusive use of the mark in relation to the products or services for 

which it is registered. The law in most jurisdictions also allows the owner of a

registered trademark to prevent unauthorized use of the mark in relation to

products or services which are identical or "colourfully" similar to the "registered" products or services, and in certain cases, prevent use in relation to entirely dissimilar 

 products or services. The test is always whether a consumer of the goods or services

will be confused as to the identity of the source or origin. An example may be a very

large multinational brand such as "Sony" where a non-electronic product such as a pair of 

sunglasses might be assumed to have come from Sony Corporation of Japan despite not being a class of goods that Sony has rights in.

Comparison with patents, designs and copyright

While trademark law seeks to protect indications of the commercial source of products or 

services, patent law generally seeks to protect new and useful inventions, and registereddesigns law generally seeks to protect the look or appearance of a manufactured article.

Trademarks, patents and designs collectively form a subset of intellectual property known

as industrial property because they are often created and used in an industrial or 

commercial context.

By comparison, copyright law generally seeks to protect original literary, artistic and

other creative works. Continued active use and re-registration can make a trademark 

 perpetual, whereas copyright usually lasts for the duration of the author's lifespan plus 70years for works by individuals, and some limited time after creation for works by bodies

corporate. This can lead to confusion in cases where a work passes into the public domain 

 but the character in question remains a registered trademark.

Although intellectual property laws such as these are theoretically distinct, more than onetype may afford protection to the same article. For example, the particular design of a

  bottle may qualify for copyright protection as a non-utilitarian [sculpture], or for 

trademark protection based on its shape, or the 'trade dress' appearance of the bottle as a

whole may be protectable. Titles and character names from books or movies may also be

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 protectable as trademarks while the works from which they are drawn may qualify for 

copyright protection as a whole.

Drawing these distinctions is necessary but often challenging for the courts and lawyers,especially in jurisdictions where patents and copyrights when they pass into the  public 

domain depending on the jurisdiction. Unlike patents and copyrights, which in theoryare granted for one-off fixed terms, trademarks remain valid as long as the owner

actively uses and defends them and maintains their registrations with the competent

authorities. This often involves payment of a periodic renewal fee.

As a trademark must be used in order to maintain rights in relation to that mark, a

trademark can be 'abandoned' or its registration can be cancelled or revoked if the mark is

not continuously used. By comparison, patents and copyrights cannot be 'abandoned' anda patent holder or copyright owner can generally enforce their rights without taking any

 particular action to maintain the patent or copyright. Additionally, patent holders and

copyright owners may not necessarily need to actively police their rights. However, a

failure to bring a timely infringement suit or action against a known infringer may givethe defendant a defense of implied consent or estoppel when suit is finally brought

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Registered designA registered design is a legal right which protects the overall visual appearance of a

 product in the geographical area you register it. The visual features that form the design

include such things as the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture, materials and the

ornamentation of the product which, when applied to the product, give it a uniqueappearance. You can also register a design showing the ornamentation alone e.g. a pattern

to go on a product or a stylised logo.

A registered design can be a valuable asset, allowing you to stop others from creating

designs which are too similar to yours within the same geographical area you have protected your design - registration gives you protection for the visual appearance of the

 product but not for what it is made from or how it works.

To be registrable, a design must:

• Be new

• Have individual character.

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A design is new if no identical (or similar) design has been published or publicly is

disclosed in the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA). For example, a design would

not be considered new if it had been 'published' on the Internet on a site viewable in theEEA before the date it was filed.

Individual character means that the appearance of the design (known as the overallimpression) is different from the appearance of other already known designs.

Reference – Wikipedia / Google

Some part of Design will be forwarded ASAP.