There actually is a difference between a trademark and a service mark. Knowing the differences will help protect your intellectual property.
While you might be wondering what the difference is between a service mark and a trademark, after all they sound the same and the concepts are pretty similar, there is a difference; one that you should be aware of when you go to file your mark and talk to a Sacramento business lawyer. The major reason you will want to file it properly boils down to being able to protect your intellectual property.
So what are the differences? Let’s start with trademark, as most people are somewhat familiar with what the term means. A trademark is a word, device, symbol or even a combination of those things that you use in business to mark/identify/distinguish your goods from everyone else’s goods. It may also be used to identify the source of the merchandise. That’s fairly straightforward.
On the other hand, a service mark is a device, word or symbol, or a combination of those things, used by businesses to mark/identify/distinguish your services from the services offered by other. It may also be used to identify the source of those services. Ok, you may be getting whiplash trying to compare the two definitions and thinking that they sound the same. That is because they “are’’ pretty much the same thing, but for the fact that a service mark relates to “services” and a trademark refers to “goods.”
Just to further confuse the issue, the term trademark is also used to refer to trademarks and service marks, and that the term ‘brand name’ is used as a synonym for either term. It’s rather ironic that the reason for trademarks and service marks is to prevent confusion about who created or provided the goods or services, and yet people confuse them. Primarily, consumers are more interested in the products or services and identify them by name and brand, etc.
The history of trademarks and service marks came to be primarily because people perceived that there had to be some method of distinguishing where the goods and services came from, and who made or distributed them. Over time, the various goods and services came to be associated with specific qualities for the general buying public. For instance, we all know and associate Coke with those classic curvy glass bottles that set them apart from other bottlers in the industry.
The point here is that each company (goods or services) needs to be distinguished from others that are similar. This is where trademarks and service marks came into being. The bottom line is that the marks themselves now have taken on a form of intrinsic value and are known to boost the sales of various goods and services.
The actual process of creating a service mark or a trademark is the same. This means a company or individual has to offer a service or a product using the name that distinguishes it from other similar goods and services. In order to do that, the name has to meet certain requirements to be able to qualify.
Having said that however, if the business is able to show that the name they are using is associated with the product/service and the company in the public’s perception, it may be able to claim that name as a trade or service mark. This will usually stop other businesses from using it. Mind you, there are various levels of trademark protection which relate to how unique the name happens to be. When in doubt, discuss your intellectual property and protecting it with a skilled Sacramento business lawyer.
Deborah Barron is a Sacramento business lawyer, Sacramento employment lawyer, and Sacramento personal injury lawyer in California. To learn more, visit www.lawbarron.com.
