Intellectual property laws can be confusing and
overwhelming. To help you navigate this complex web, we offer an IP
primer series to share the foundations of intellectual property
laws, including patents, trademarks, copyrights,
and trade secrets.
A trademark can be any word, name, symbol, or
device (such as a logo, picture, slogan, color, shape,
sound, etc.), including combinations of these elements. The key
function of a trademark is to identify and
distinguish the goods and/or services of
the trademark owner from those of others and to indicate
the source of those goods and/or services, even if that
source is unknown.
The term "trademark" is often used to collectively and
colloquially refer to both trademarks and service marks. But a
trademark technically refers to a mark used with goods, whereas a
"service mark" refers to a mark used with services. This
article uses "trademark" generally to refer to both
trademarks and service marks.
