What are the Criteria for determining a “Good” Trade-Mark?
The nature of the terms used as a trademark is extremely important from the standpoint of: • initial registrability; and • lasting viability as a trademark, since the trademark must be capable of distinguishing the wares or services in relation to which it is used. In evaluating a trademark, there are four general categories of terms: • distinctive terms; • suggestive terms; • descriptive terms; and • generic terms. Generally, the terms that are easiest to register and to protect as trademarks are “distinctive” terms. Distinctive terms are often arbitrary or fanciful terms. They are unmistakably capable of identifying an owner’s wares or services without any likelihood of confusion, for the average consumer, with the wares or services of another party. At the other end of the spectrum, “generic” terms will never be capable of registration. The meaning of a generic term is synonymous with the wares or services themselves (e.g., zipper, escalator, etc…). Generic terms are incapable of
