Trademark is a very critical brand identity

A TRADEMARK is a recognisable sign, design or expression which identifies products or services of a particular source from those of others.

The trademark owner can be an individual, business organisation, or any legal entity. A trademark may be located on a package, a label, a voucher or on the product itself. For the sake of corporate identity trademarks are also being displayed on company buildings.

Trademark identifies the brand owner of a particular product or service. Trademarks can be licensed to others; for example, Bullyland obtained a license to produce Smurf figurines; the Lego Group purchased a license from Lucasfilm in order to be allowed to launch Lego Star Wars; TT Toys Toys is a manufacturer of licensed ride-on replica cars for children.

The unauthorised usage of trademarks by producing and trading counterfeit consumer goods is known as brand piracy. The owner of a trademark may pursue legal action against trademark infringement.

Most countries, including Kenya, require formal registration of a trademark as a precondition for pursuing this type of action. The United States, Canada and other countries also recognise common law trademark rights, which means action can be taken to protect an unregistered trademark if it is in use. Still common law trademarks offer the holder in general less legal protection than registered trademarks.

A trademark may be designated by the following symbols:

• ™ (The “trademark symbol”, which is the letters “TM”, for an unregistered trademark, a mark used to promote or brand goods).
• ℠ (which is the letters “SM” in superscript, for an unregistered service mark, a mark used to promote or brand services).
• ® (the letter “R” surrounded by a circle, for a registered trademark).A trademark is typically a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of these elements.[7] There is also a range of non-conventional trademarks comprising marks which do not fall into these standard categories, such as those based on color, smell, or sound (like jingles). A trademark cannot be offensive.[8]

The term trademark is also used informally to refer to any distinguishing attribute by which an individual is readily identified, such as the well-known characteristics of celebrities. When a trademark is used in relation to services rather than products, it may sometimes be called a service mark, particularly in the United States.

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