Trademarks
Trademarks are often associated with a business’ brand identity. The USPTO defines a trademark as “any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things that identifies your goods or services. It’s how customers recognize you in the marketplace and distinguish you from your competitors.” The term “service mark” specifically refers to services while the term “trademark” is used interchangeably for goods or services. In order to be registrable, a trademark/service mark must be perceived as unique. According to the USPTO, the most common reason for a registration application to be denied is a “likelihood of confusion” with a registered or previously filed mark application. A likelihood of confusion exists when trademarks are similar and the goods and/or services are related so that consumers might mistakenly perceive that they are from the same source.
In evaluating the likelihood of confusion, three factors are considered: visual appearance, sound, and meaning (including meaning in translation). The key question is whether a proposed mark “create[s] the same general commercial impression in the consuming public’s mind.” It is possible to have similar marks if they associated with different products or different services so that customers would not be confused.
Dove: Chocolate or Soap?
Imagine your friend has just told you that they’ve gotten a job working in the marketing department of Dove. Do you think your friend is working for a chocolate company? Or a soap and beauty product company?
In this case, both companies were able to trademark the brand name Dove, because chocolate and beauty products are unrelated goods so it would be unlikely that people would confuse the products.
