Too General To Be Trademark-Able: A "Cocky" Debate

There have been plethora of cases in India and abroad that discuss the menace caused due to monopolization of general English terms in course of business. The argument given by the proprietors is that to get a trademark over a name, it is important that the name is arbitrary and it does not describe the product that is being sold under it. While the importance of getting protection over one's intellectual property is stressed upon, the bigger problem here lies with the concept of owning a name that everyone knows and uses in their day-to-day life. "Trademark Overreach or Trademark Abuse" refers to this practice of using and monopolizing general words as brand names. This article analyses the predicament of dominating general words for business purposes while highlighting upon the recent 'COCKY' controversy.