Saturday, July 19, 2003

From Of Kleenex and Cheez Whiz by Joe Hadzima
When you are naming a product you should try to come up with a unique name. Depending on the "strength" of the mark, the breadth of the class of goods or services to which the trademark right pertains may be greater or smaller. If your mark is fanciful and contrived, such as "Exxon" or "Kodak" it is highly unlikely that someone else is using it. You also will have a stronger case against someone who later uses a similar mark to trade on (or "dilute") the reputation of your product.

...

A name that is "merely descriptive" won't be entitled to trademark protection unless you can show that over time the mark has acquired "secondary meaning;" that is, customers actually associate the mark with your goods.

If you thought that was good you may want to check out the index of articles published by Joe Hadzima.

- Peace

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