Trademark LawIntellectual Property law consists of three branches. Trademark Law is one of them along with Patent Law and Copyright Law. Patent law protects new inventions. It grants rights to the owner to control who is allowed to access the information and who is not allowed. Under trademark law the owner has the right to keep all other people and companies from infringing on their product or idea. Unlike copyright that only protects the expression of an idea or product, trademark law protects all marks or names that are in connection with the product. Trademarks can be anything such as a sound, color, word, icon, phrase or image. Trademark law was introduced by the Englishmen during the 13th century. Englishmen created this law to protect customers from counterfeit merchandise and services. In the 19th century both the United States and Britain's government created trademark agencies to control trademark registrations. In summary trademark law discourages against illegal use of a product identifying mark or logo. These marks and logos are what guarantee customers a certain product standard set forth by the underlying company. When another company illegally sells these products it brings the product standards of that product down. Trademark law basically protects customers from being mislead. It helps to regulate the marketplace to the deserving party. And protects against others gaining financial rewards off the hard work of the deserving company. Trademark law affects creative artists as well. These include people such as writers, authors, designer, and others of the like. It protects creative artists against unlawful use of trademark so long as they are not misleading the public. The art world is also involved with trademark law. There many items such as titles, domain names and even the name of the author are all protected against mishandling. At time titles may be protected under unjust competition and trademark laws. When a title accomplishes a secondary meaning, much like titles commercial appeal, protection under trademark law is granted. In order to qualify a title must also be well known. But titles considered one shot titles are not protected under trademark law. Trade dress in a merchandise's recognizable image. It is the characteristics of that image such as color image, shape and packaging. Domain names, or web addresses, can also be protected under trademark law. Use of a domain name without permission violates the trademark right of the rights owner. A story's character can also become protected under trademark laws. When a characters presence is so strong that it becomes linked with the product and seems to take on its own life outside of the story, trademark law can come into effect. An author's name is also protected against misuse under trademark laws. If someone attempts false advertisement with the authors name or falsely depicted the work, the author has rights to file a legal case against that person and seek damages. Trademark law promotes the social economies progress. It protects corporate integrity and educated purchasing decisions. | |
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