What is a trademark?

A trademark is a legal right that protects distinctive signs such as names, logos, slogans, sounds, or shapes, that identify and distinguish the goods or services of one business from those of others.

Trademark protection allows the owner to exclusively use the mark in the marketplace and prevent others from using identical or confusingly similar signs in the same industry or class of goods/services. They help build brand recognition, protect business identity, and support long-term commercial value.

To register a trademark, the mark must meet key criteria:

• Distinctiveness: It must clearly identify the source of a product or service.
• Non-descriptive: It can’t simply describe the goods or services.
• Availability: It must not conflict with existing trademarks.
  

National or regional intellectual property offices register trademarks (such as the USPTO, EUIPO, or WIPO). Once registered, a trademark can remain valid indefinitely, as long as the owner continues to use it in commerce and renews it periodically, typically every 10 years.

Trademarks are a core part of intellectual property (IP), alongside patents, copyrights, and industrial designs, each protecting different aspects of innovation and branding.