Once you have decided how you want to market your product, the next step is to determine what kind of mark to use. There are at least six different ways to use a mark.
The first, most common and most obvious kind is simply the name of the product or service. As explained in the previous article, there may be marketing advantages to using a descriptive name, but there is also limited trademark protection.
The second kind of mark is the logo. A log can be text, graphics, or some combination of both. Logos can be very effective in giving your brand recognition because people can quickly associate your logo with your product or service.
The third kind of mark is the slogan. Like logos, slogans can quickly be associated with your product or service and help build your brand name recognition. Slogans have the same rules for protection as business names.
The forth kind of mark is known as “trade dress.” Trade dress is the packaging, décor, product shape or web page that exists to build customer recognition. Trade dress protection is relatively difficult to obtain.
The fifth is color. If color is part of a logo or trade dress then it is a trademark as part of the logo or trade dress. However, one can trademark a color in itself if the owner can show that the color has become synonymous with the product in the marketplace. This is difficult, but not impossible to do.
The sixth is the internet web domain. Web domains generally follow the same rules as business names. The top level domain cannot be trademarked, and neither can the locator. So for www.obrieniplaw.com, only "obrieniplaw" can be trademarked, and even then it is not protectable since it is merely descriptive of the service the website provides. Sites like Amazon.com, however, are arbitrary compared to what is offered and they are able to obtain protection.
Regardless of the method you chose to advertise your products the Law Office of Michael O’Brien can help insure the maximum protection for your design.