Introduction
A trademark is something that identifies your products or work from other similar products. Many trademarks are symbols or logos which are placed on the item to signify that this item was made by such and such producer. A trademark needs to be registered. Whenever you see the superscripted “TM” on a logo or picture that means that this is that product’s trademark. If there is a simple “TM” means that the trademark has not yet been registered whereas if the “®” symbol is used this means that the trademark has been registered and cannot be used by anybody else. This is the basic of trademark sign and almost everyone is aware of this.
History
The first people to start using trademarks in history were sword makers in the Roman times who wanted to distinguish their product from others. It was in the last 1800s that in countries like the United Kingdom governments began to register and record trademarks. This gave the trademark a legal status that it was owned by the registered party and could not be used by any other party. The main reason to register a trademark was to ensure that produce of rival parties was easily differentiated from each other. Each country has it’s own trademark laws which company’s must follow. And any company that is registered in one country with a particular trademark may need to register that same trademark again in any new country in which it wants to do business.
Features
In today’s word we see trademarks constantly be it on television, newspapers or billboards. Generally speaking we do not use the word trademark so much now and prefer to refer to a company’s logo. “Trademark”, “logo” and “brand” are many times used interchangeable in many settings. Trademarks are particularly useful to consumers as it helps them to locate the product which best suits their budget or desire. If trademarks were not strictly implemented and they are not in some countries like China then it can become difficult to ensure that the product belongs to the trademark stamped on it. A very famous trademark is McDonalds’ golden arches. Others include Coca-Cola’s distinctive style of cursive writing and Unilever’s decorative U shaped logo.
Tips and comments
Another way in which the word “trademark” is used is when a person has a particular gesture, action, way of talking, in short, uniqueness that sets them apart or for which they are famous is sometimes referred to as someone’s trademark. For example some people might say that Sohail Warraich’s trademark is the way he speaks very slowly and pronounces every single syllable of every word very prominently. This style of his has differentiated him from the many other talk show hosts on TV. Trademarks and logos help improve our lives so that we can easily identify the product that we want to buy because not all producers make products of the same quality. Many trademarks are sold for extremely high prices such as the famous Craven A cigarettes trademark was sold to a Japanese company.
