Originally published September 2, 2014
When deciding on a business venture, it is important to put serious thought into the name of a new company name or product line. From an intellectual property perspective, the strongest names or trademarks get the most protection, and when deciding on a mark, creativity and originality are key.
With regard to creativity, marks generally fall into one of four categories:
- Fanciful or Arbitrary;
- Suggestive;
- Descriptive; or
- Generic.
Fanciful or Arbitrary Marks
The strongest and most easily protectable marks are fanciful marks and arbitrary marks. Fanciful marks are words created for the sole purpose of being a trademark, such as XEROX for copiers. Arbitrary marks are words with a common meaning that have no relation to the goods or services being sold in connection with the mark, such as APPLE for computers.
Suggestive Marks
Suggestive marks suggest a quality or characteristic of the good or service being provided in connection with the mark, such as COPPERTONE for sunscreen. Suggestive marks are also considered to be strong and registerable.
Descriptive Marks
Descriptive marks describe the goods or services being sold in connection with the mark. Descriptive marks are considered "weak" and hard to protect. In fact, descriptive marks are not federally registerable unless they have acquired distinctiveness, which usually happens by use and heavy marketing of the mark for more than five years.
Generic Marks
Generic marks are common names for a type of product made by multiple companies, such as clothing, soda, or chocolate. Words used in this way are not distinctive and do not point to a particular company as the source of a product or service. Generic marks are the weakest marks and are not protectable.
At the end of the day, when picking a name for a new business venture, company, or product line, the best thing to do is to either:
- make up a word (fanciful mark);
- select a random word (arbitrary mark); or
- use a word that suggests a characteristic of the new business venture, company name, or product (suggestive mark).
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
