What Is Trademark Law?

Trademark law is one of the three branches of Intellectual Property Law. The other branches are Patent Law and Copyright Law. As an overview, patent law guards new inventions that can be valuable by giving the owner or patentee the right to keep out other individuals from using the said invention in their enterprises. Copyright law, on the other hand, protects the rights of artists for their creation of their works, be it a book, film, or an artwork from any unauthorized imitation of the said work. Copyright law, however, has nothing to do with the idea of the creation or work; it merely protects its expression.
The trademark law is a little different; it protects any symbols, names or forms of signature that are found on a company's products. Trademarks can be names, drawings, sounds, images, or anything original about a certain company. However, services are distinguished by service marks which act as trademarks but are used for services.
The trademark system ensures that people are buying and identifying certain products. If people would be confused concerning trademarks they wouldn't be sure that the product they buy is original. The company's status and reputation is also assured through this system and keeps other company from copying a trademark or a product already on the market.
Trademark law also keeps a liberal competition between companies and ensures that all buyers are respected and have knowledge about the quality of the products.
Trademark law practically has an effect on creative artists as well (writers or authors, designers, etc). It endows creative artists and their business associates broad protections from any unlawful use of a trademark as long as it does not misled the public that the use was endorsed by the owner of the trademark. Trademark law and the art world connect through titles, trade dress, domain names, literary characters, and mishandling of the name of an author.
Secondary meaning is another term which pops out when speaking about trademark laws. This term is a synonym for commercial use or commercial appeal and it refers to titles. These titles are protected, no matter the field, but they have to be famous and meet some requirements. Even titles that represent one type of merchandise can obtain protection in another type of merchandise. But one shot titles are not protected by the trademark law.
Trade dress is the visual image when speaking about trademark laws. It includes all the shapes, design and packaging that are being used for a certain type of product. This will make sure that clients will recognize it when searching for a product.
Current legislation applies the trademark law in other fields like the internet. Here, trademark law protects domain names used by certain companies, online publications, or any type of original information given to the public. The punishment is the same for people who make illegal use of electronic creations.
Sometimes a character from a novel or a movie can become the image of a certain product. Although the character may lose copyright protection, it will gain trademark protection because it helps a brand sell its products and becomes a signature.
If someone makes false advertising on any products which are trademark protected, the owners can take legal measurements protecting themselves and their reputation. By making this possible, trademark laws help people get the right information about certain products. Also, trademark laws play an important role in sustaining the world's economy and protect each company from frauds and client confusion.
By: Rex Stevenson
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