Explain how trademarks and service marks are used.
Trademarks and Service Marks
A trademark is any distinctive name (Calvin Klein), short phrase (Just Do It), logo (McDonald's golden arches), or graphic design (the Nike swoosh) that distinguishes goods made by the owner of the mark, rather than services.
A service mark protects services. Think of it as the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product (for example, consulting or management services). For all practical purposes, trademarks and service marks are subject to the same rules of validity, use, protection, and infringement. Marks are visual cues for consumers. They let us know who makes a product or provides a service. When a mark becomes synonymous with quality, it becomes a valuable business asset to its owner.
The "TM" for trademark and the "R" in a circle for registered trademark are still widely used by corporations today.
The "TM" symbol is used to denote an unregistered trademark. It is a way for companies to claim ownership of a word, phrase, logo, or design that signifies the source of goods or services before it has been officially registered with the relevant trademark office.
The "R" enclosed within a circle indicates a registered trademark. This symbol is used once the trademark has been formally registered with the appropriate governmental body, providing the trademark owner with certain legal rights, including exclusive rights to use the mark in commerce in connection with the goods or services listed in the registration.
These symbols are important in commerce as they notify the public and competitors about the trademark status of a logo or phrase, helping to protect the intellectual property of businesses.
Trade Names
Note that both trademarks and service marks differ from trade names, which identify the companies themselves. A trade name can function as a mark, however, insofar as a company uses the business name as marks on their products, or in connection with a service it offers.
A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device which is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others. A servicemark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms trademark and mark are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and servicemarks. Trademark rights may be used to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark, but not to prevent others from making the same goods or from selling the same goods or services under a clearly different mark. Trademarks which are used in interstate or foreign commerce may be registered with the Patent and Trademark Office. The registration procedure for trademarks and general information concerning trademarks is described in a separate pamphlet entitled Basic Facts about Trademarks.
A trademark can be considered any
name,
symbol,
figure,
letter,
word, or
mark
adopted and used by a manufacturer or merchant in order to designate his or her goods and to distinguish them from those manufactured or sold by others. A trademark is a proprietary term that is usually registered with the Patent and Trademark Office to assure its exclusive use by its owner. It can also be considered a distinctive mark or feature particularly characteristic of or identified with a person or thing.
Trademarked Keywords
Circumstances may prevent your keywords from being approved. For example, if you have duplicate keywords, you will receive notice of it as soon as you try to set up your campaign, or if you have keywords that are trademarked, they may be disapproved for legal reasons.
If a keyword that you want to use is not approved, try selecting a similar phrase.
Each of the keywords in the list shown on the Ad Group page is actually a link to one more level in detail. If you click a keyword, you are taken to a keyword detail page. This page shows information such as your maximum bid for the keyword, a forecast for position or number of times the ad will be shown based on your budget, and a prediction for how much higher you will rank if you increase your daily bid.
Editing features, like keyword replacement and changing your destination URL, are also available.
Using symbols
Anyone who claims rights with a mark may use the ™ (trademark) or SM (service mark) designation to alert the public to the claim.
You do not need a registration or even a pending application to use these designations.
Trademark law is a fascinating subject for many people, in part because most everybody in our society understands and appreciates the power of popular trademarks, such as Tesla, IBM, Subway, and Microsoft. Trademarks are such an integral part of our language and culture that we all have a vested interest in their protection.
Since trademarks are all about meaning, trademark disputes are a kind of spectator sport.
They involve 1) popular cultural icons and 2) turn on questions such as whether the average person is likely to be confused if a trademark is used improperly.
So in many respects, everybody gets to have an opinion on trademark issues, and that opinion more often than not counts for something in the final analysis of trademark disputes.
In the next lesson, you will learn how to register a trademark.
