A trade mark is a type of intellectual property which identifies a product or service as a particular source, and is distinguishable by customers from another product or service.
Logos and names are the most common form of trade mark. This can include product or brand names. Other intellectual property that can be protected with a trade mark include:
- Shapes including packaging.
- Colours.
- Colour combinations.
- Sounds.
- Patterns.
A trade mark must be unique and cannot be confused with another existing trade mark. For this reason, common words describing the product or service cannot be trade marked – such as ‘cereal’ cannot be trade marked for a cereal food product. A trade mark cannot be offensive, misleading or look similar to a state symbol such as a flag.