	Beth Anne Gray J., LL.B. (Hons.) & Victoria Tejada LL.B. P.O. Box 832-0816 - World Trade Centre - Panama City - Republic of Panama International Legal Services

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Trademark Guidelines for Registration

A trade mark is a sign which can distinguish your goods and services from those of other traders. A sign includes, for example, words, logos, pictures or a combination of these. You can use your trade mark as a marketing tool so that customers can recognise your products or services.

What you need to consider before making your application

The following are the main points you need to think about carefully before sending us your application.

Is your trade mark a distinctive word, logo, picture or other sign that will clearly identify your goods or services from those of other traders? If the Trademarks Registrar doesn’t think it is, they will object to your mark.

Has someone else already registered or applied to register a trade mark which:

looks the same as or similar to yours for the same or similar goods or services; or

sounds the same as or similar to yours for the same or similar goods or services?

If so – your trademark will be objected to.

They will also object to words, logos, pictures or other signs which are unlikely to be seen as a trade mark by the public. For example, marks which:

	describe your goods or services or any characteristics of them (for example, marks which show the quality, quantity, purpose, value or geographical origin of your goods or services);
	have become customary in your line of trade;
	are not distinctive; or
	are any combination of the above.

As you can see from the above, they are more likely to consider invented words (or even dictionary words which are not in any way associated with your goods or services) as highly distinctive.

The following are examples of the sorts of signs that would be objected to, because they would not be seen as trade marks.

SEVEN-DAYS-A-WEEK

TASTYFOOD

TOYSdirect

These days many traders advertise that their goods or services are provided seven days a week.

If you are trading in food, these two words simply describe a quality of your goods. Joining the two words together would not make this mark acceptable.

"Direct" describes goods or services sold directly to the public and is widely used by traders. The fact that, for example, the kind of goods being sold is included in the mark does not help.

Slogans such as this are often used in trade and are not distinctive.

How can you avoid your mark falling into these categories?

Make sure your trade mark is a distinctive word, logo, picture or other sign that will clearly identify your goods or services from those of other traders.

Made-up words, logos or pictures are normally distinctive unless they have become customary in your line of trade.

Even normal dictionary words may be acceptable as long as they do not fall foul of these guidelines.

If you think that the examiners are unlikely to agree that your trade mark is distinctive, you may want to consider including a prominent invented word, logo or picture in your mark. (Don't forget that you cannot alter your trade mark once we have submitted your application form, so we can only consider the mark you put on the form.)

If what you include stands out enough and is distinctive in relation to your goods or services, it may avoid the type of objection explained in this section. For example, most people would not consider the mark COFFEE SHOP to be distinctive for cafes. The mark BATMORE COFFEE SHOP, on the other hand, would be distinctive as the public would see BATMORE as being a trade mark.

In the same way, QUALITY HANDBAGS could hardly be considered distinctive for handbags; but FRISHCOSS QUALITY HANDBAGS could be distinctive as FRISHCOSS would be seen as a trade mark.

***The information above is only guidance. We do not purport to provide a legal opinion with respect to these matters and our specific advice should be sought in each particular case. We cannot guarantee that these guidelines will avoid any objections, as each case is considered on its own merits.***

Common misconceptions

They will possibly not accept words, logos, pictures or other signs which are unlikely to be seen as a trade mark by the public just because they are:

	in an unusual typeface;
	in colour;
	joined together;
	misspelt (for example: xtra, fone and so on);
	presented as an Internet domain name or with the words .com, co.uk and so on; or
	which combine any of the above.

Please also remember that registering a company name or an Internet domain name with a registrar, does not mean you will automatically receive approval for that name as a trade mark.

They will also not accept marks which are:

	three-dimensional shapes, if the shape shows your goods, has a function or adds great value to the goods;
	specially-protected emblems;
	offensive;
	against the law (for example, promoting illegal drugs); or
	deceptive. (There should be nothing in the mark which would lead the public to think that your goods or services have a quality which they do not.)

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Last modified 26-Sep-2007 17:37 -0400

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Last modified 26-Sep-2007 17:37 -0400