Trademark vs Service mark

Re: Trademark vs Service mark

This is what I found:

Trademark, Service Mark... Which Do I Need?

If you are looking for protection for a mark and cannot decide between a trademark and service mark, the difference is fairly simple. A trademark is a phrase, word, logo, symbol or other device that is used to identify the source of a product or service and to distinguish one company's products from the competition.

The trademark, service mark distinction is really quite small. Trademarks and service marks are essentially the same thing, except that a trademark promotes goods or products while a service mark promotes services. Some examples of services are food services, transportation services, and insurance services. For a helpful example, consider the following: The name of a restaurant, for example "Burger Safari" fits nicely into the service mark category as it describes a provider of food services, while the name of a particular menu item, for example "Elephant Burger," fits into the trademark category as it describes a particular product.

Re: Trademark vs Service mark

The USPTO's definition: trademark "protect words, names, symbols, sounds, or colors that distinguish goods and services from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source of the goods."

If your name and/or logo appear on the tangible goods that you're selling, you'd be filing for a trademark.

For instance, let's say you want to protect the name of your clothing line. As long as the name appears on the hang tag, label or the packaging the clothes come in, that would suffice as proof of you using the name in connection with a clothing line. And therefore, you'd file for a trademark.

If the name appears only on the front of the shirt, that's ornamental use and therefore not eligible for trademark protection.
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Re: Trademark vs Service mark

I concur with Ms. Ashburgh's explanation and would only add as an example.... think of a University such as Duke University. Duke is clearly a service mark because they provide educational services. But the school also sells merchandise such as t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc. Whenever the word "Duke Univesity" is applied in association with goods, it is a trademark. Whenever a college brochure is sent out to prospective students, the term "Duke University" is used in association with a service. The sole purpose of the the trademark/service mark is to identify a level of quality assocaited with the good or service, whether it is good or bad, there is an consumer impression of brand quality that is developed over time.

The difference in the registration process is what classification and description you use in the application process which may seem simple but I highly recommend consulting an experienced trademark attorney for guidance. Filing an application is relatively easy but what you file will dictate what kind of response you get from the TTAB examining office. Hope this helps.
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Re: Trademark vs Service mark

Trade Mark-:

The USPTO's definition: trademark "protect words, names, symbols, sounds, or colors that distinguish goods and services from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source of the goods." If your name and/or logo appear on the tangible goods that you're selling, you'd be filing for a trademark.

Service Mark-:

The USPTO's definition: service mark is "a word, name, symbol or device that is to indicate the source of the services and to distinguish them from the services of others." If you're selling services in connection with a name and/or logo, you'd be filing for a service mark.

Re: Trademark vs Service mark

yep, these guys got it. Trademark is for products, or goods sold under that name. Service mark is for businesses who offer a service. For example, we provide accounting to small businesses. Since we don't sell anything tangible we would have a service mark to protect the name of our business. Wal-mart has it's own brand "great value", this name is trademarked for these products.

Re: Trademark vs Service mark

In a nutshell, the brands are trademarks of goods and services are for services. When discussing whether it is more common to use the term brand, also discussing the use of the service, is Because the treatment is interchangeable with the USPTO and all 50 Secretary of State offices.