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Overall PDF's Summary
The document begins by defining a Certification Mark as a symbol that indicates a product or service maintains certain quality standards, a specific origin, material, and labor part.
It then outlines the process for Trademark Acquisition, starting with the first step of protecting the trademark as a trade secret during its development stage to prevent copying. Subsequent steps involve ensuring the mark is not generic or descriptive, as descriptive marks cannot be protected, and researching its availability to avoid infringement.
The PDF details various types of Protectable Matter that can be registered as a trademark, including slogans, letters, and numbers that are distinctive, logos and symbols, non-functional shapes and containers (such as the Coca-Cola bottle), and colors, which modern rules allow to show distinctiveness. Fragrances, sounds, and moving images are also protectable if they are distinctive.
Finally, the document addresses the Determination of Trade Secrets status. To qualify as a trade secret, an information must satisfy six important factors considered by courts. The base requirement is that the information must not be publicly known outside the company, and it must be known to only limited persons within the company. The company must also take reasonable measures to maintain the secrecy of the information.
1. Certification Marks
A mark must be distinctive and non-functional to be protected.
Information must satisfy six factors to qualify as a trade secret:
Overall PDF's Summary
The document begins by defining a Certification Mark as a symbol that indicates a product or service maintains certain quality standards, a specific origin, material, and labor part.
It then outlines the process for Trademark Acquisition, starting with the first step of protecting the trademark as a trade secret during its development stage to prevent copying. Subsequent steps involve ensuring the mark is not generic or descriptive, as descriptive marks cannot be protected, and researching its availability to avoid infringement.
The PDF details various types of Protectable Matter that can be registered as a trademark, including slogans, letters, and numbers that are distinctive, logos and symbols, non-functional shapes and containers (such as the Coca-Cola bottle), and colors, which modern rules allow to show distinctiveness. Fragrances, sounds, and moving images are also protectable if they are distinctive.
Finally, the document addresses the Determination of Trade Secrets status. To qualify as a trade secret, an information must satisfy six important factors considered by courts. The base requirement is that the information must not be publicly known outside the company, and it must be known to only limited persons within the company. The company must also take reasonable measures to maintain the secrecy of the information.
1. Certification Marks
- Indicate or certify that a product/service maintains certain quality, originates from a specific location, or uses particular material/labor.
- Must not be generic or descriptive.
- Used by firms other than the producers or sellers of the goods/services.
- Examples: ISO Mark, Hall Mark, AGMARK, and ISI Mark.
- Step 1: Keep Secret - Protect the trademark as a trade secret during the development stage to prevent copying.
- Step 2: Non-Generic & Non-Descriptive - Ensure the mark is not a Generic Mark (publicly used) or a Descriptive Mark (describes the good/service).
- Step 3: Ensure Availability - Research registered and unregistered trademarks to avoid infringement.
A mark must be distinctive and non-functional to be protected.
- Slogans, Letters, and Numbers can be registered if they are distinctive and do not describe the product/service.
- Logos and Symbols are protectable.
- Non-functional Shapes and Containers (e.g., the Coca-Cola bottle shape) are protectable.
- Colors can be used to show distinctiveness (e.g., Coca-Cola Red).
- Domain Names are protectable if they identify a product/service, but not if they are descriptive or an address.
- Fragrances, Sounds, and Moving Images are protectable if they are distinctive.
Information must satisfy six factors to qualify as a trade secret:
- Not Publicly Known outside the company.
- Known to Limited Persons within the company.
- Reasonable Measures Taken to maintain secrecy (e.g., security, safety storage).
- High Value to the company (e.g., a manufacturing process or recipe).
- Amount of Time, Effort & Money Spent on development.
- Difficulty in Acquiring for unauthorized persons.
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