Trade marks are vital to your business.

Trade marks are vital to your business and are signs that can distinguish your goods and services from those of your competitors.

A trade mark can be made up of words, logos or a combination of both.

Made up words,logos and pictures are normally considered to be the most distinctive unless they have become common place in respect of the goods or services you are applying for- think 'hoover' and 'asprin'!

Some familiar and distinctive trade marks by way of example are:

Tesco, Esso, Boots, Marks and Spencers, Coca Cola.

Trademarks which are not acceptable are those that:

describe your goods or services or any characteristics of them e.g. 'Irish Potato Bread" for potato bread.

are not distinctive for example 'The Hairdressers' for a hairdressing salon;

are three dimensional shapes, if the shape is typical of the goods you are interested in for example the shape of a hairdryer for a hairdryer.

are specially protected emblems like the Olympics or the Red Cross

are offensive e.g. marks containing taboo words or pornographic images;

are against the law, for example, promoting illegal drugs

are deceptive. There should be nothing in the mark which would lead the public to think that your goods and services have a quality which they do not e.g. use of the words "100% beef" on goods which are not.

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www.trademarkroom.com