The term trademark stands for certain logos or words that distinguish the products of one company from the other. The prime function of trademarks is to prevent the customers from getting confused about the origin of an item that they intend to buy.

One of the key requirements for a trademark is that it must be distinctive, which means it must be exclusive and recognizable. This uniqueness of trademarks is determined by dividing them into four basic categories – descriptive, suggestive, arbitrary or fanciful, and generic.

A descriptive mark uses a particular feature or quality of a commodity to differentiate it from other products of its kind. However, marks that are descriptive are not as unique as some other marks and hence, they are not generally capable of being trademarked. however, if the mark has acquired a secondary meaning that is more well known among the consumers, it can be trademarked.

Suggestive marks are those which indicate a particular quality of the product. However, the relation between the name and the product is not obviously perceptible and it might need a little bit of imagination on the part of the customers to understand it. For instance, the product name known as ‘Hush Puppies’ points to a comfortable shoe range that makes sure that your feet do not become sore. The creative reason behind the brand name is that the problem of sore feet is known as ‘barking dogs’ in certain American states.

On the other hand, arbitrary marks are those that are in no way related to the commodity. For instance, the use of trademark ‘Apple’ with a logo of a half bitten apple is in no way related to the computers marketed under the mark. Arbitrary marks are those marks that are not used in current languages and have come from the imagination of the producer, like ‘Exxon’.

Finally, generic marks are those that represent a general category of the product such as ‘olive oil’, and they cannot be granted any protection under trademark laws.

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