Are all brand names registrable as trademarks?
No. Brand names containing matter which other traders might legitimately want to use for their goods and services are difficult to register. Names that are difficult to register include names that are: · Descriptive. Words that describe some characteristic or function of the goods or services. · Laudatory. Words that praise the goods or services eg. Super. · Geographical names. · Generic. Words that are commonly used in the trade eg. Soap cannot be used as a trademark for soap products. · Surnames. … unless they have become well known and acquired distinctiveness or unless the name is one that would unlikely to need to be used by competitors in the normal course of their trade. It may be possible to register a brand that contains some of the above elements if the brand name is considered distinctive as a whole. If your brand wholly consists of non-distinctive elements like those listed above, it may still be registrable if: 1. It is depicted in a unique or very stylised manner. Or, 2.
