In the past months, I have started really paying attention to
every billboard I come across. I find myself stopping on street
corners, analysing each word, slogan and logo in an effort to
determine their process to registration, and the hurdles the marks
could have encountered before being registered.
Life has not always been this interesting. Prior to getting
involved in trade mark law, I lived in complete oblivion of what
happened behind the scenes of the images that hover over us while
we drive past our freeways. I have come to learn that it takes more
than putting together pretty pictures and stringing along a few
clever words, to pass as a trade mark.
A trade mark is crucial to one's business, as it identifies
one's goods and services and distinguishes it from those of
others. On the one hand, it should be intriguing and interesting
enough to catch consumer's attention and on the other hand it
needs to articulate the goods and services provided without
