A Trade Mark is a sign that may help to distinguish goods or services of one company from those of other companies. This is more or less the standard definition of a Trade Mark as used in the legal field. Other fields of science or business will use other definitions of what constitutes a Trade Mark.

The two key words in the legal definition of a Trade Mark are probably ‘sign’ and ‘distinguish’. A sign can be much more than one may expect. The most obvious signs or Trade Mark are words. Word marks can consist either of an existing term or a coined word. Other common marks are logos (or ‘device marks’) or a combination of one or more words and an image.

Other signs may also help very well to distinguish certain products from others. The label on a product, the colours and shape of the product or of its packaging and combinations of these may also fulfil this role. There are also less evident signs that may also function as Trade Marks like sounds or smells. The definition is not exhaustive. Again, basically any sign may be regarded as a Trade Mark as long as it fulfils its distinctive role.

The other essential word is to ‘distinguish’. Not all signs are able to distinguish goods (or services) for various reasons. Words may describe the product itself or certain qualities or features for a product. In that case, such a word can by definition, not at the same time distinguish certain of those products from the same products from another company.

Other words were originally distinctive signs/Trade Marks but have become generic as a consequence of generic use of it. There are signs that are so commonly used that the public cannot distinguish goods from other goods, so they are simply non-distinctive.

There are basically two ways or systems to obtain the right to a Trade Mark. These depend on the legal system of the country where the right is obtained. There are countries where the actual use of a Trade Mark in commerce creates the right to that mark. The fact that a company at a certain point in time starts to use a certain Trade Mark on products, on product packagings etc. is sufficient for them to be able to claim a right to that Trade Mark.

The majority of countries have legal systems requiring that a Trade Mark is registered in a specific trademark register. Or that at least an application for registration of the trademark is filed with the authorities that maintain the Trade Marks register. These Trade Mark registers are open for inspection by the public. They allow third parties to check if a certain mark is registered or filed for and what the exact status of the application or registration is. This is essential information for companies that want to introduce a new product under a new Trade Mark. Before the launch (and final selection) of such a Trade Mark research has to be done to verify whether the new Trade Mark infringes upon the (Trade Mark) rights of third parties.

A Patent is a legal right, which in return for full disclosure of an invention, grants the holder of the Patent exclusivity in relation to the invention for a limited duration. The maximum duration is generally 20 years and after expiration of this period, the invention falls into the public domain. The Patent is designed to encourage innovation.

An Application for a Patent must be made to the Patents Office accompanied by a Patent Specification. A Patent Specification must contain a description of the invention, one or more claims, and any drawings which are referred to in the description to illustrate the invention. The Patents Office grants a Patent for an invention, which it finds is an advance on the state of the art (novel) and is not an obvious development.

Under a Treaty known as the Paris Convention, an Applicant can within 12 months, seek Patent protection in another member country and claim priority back to the date on which the first application was filed.

A copyright is the legal right granted to an author, composer, playwright, or artist to exclusive publication, reproduction, sale, distribution, or performance of an independently created literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work.

Copyright gives the creators of certain kinds of material the right to control the ways their material can be used. These rights begin as soon as the material is recorded in a tangible medium of expression. The owner of a copyright in particular material may prevent others from doing any of the following

• copying;

• adapting or creating derivative works;

• distributing;

• communicating to the public by electronic transmission;

• renting or lending copies to the public; and,

• performing in public