What is the concept of trademark distinctiveness

The distinctiveness of trademarks is also called "distinctiveness" or "identifiability". In short, it refers to the characteristics that a certain sign has that, when it is used on goods and services, consumers can distinguish the supplier of this goods and services from other suppliers of the same or similar goods and services.

Therefore, the distinctiveness of a trademark is a relative concept. It is not an inherent characteristic of the logo itself, but a concept related to the logo itself, the goods or services that use the logo, and the perception of consumers. That is to say, even if there is a logo that has not been registered by others earlier and conforms to the specific content of the product, but the logo cannot clearly distinguish the marked product from other products, then the logo cannot be used as a trademark.

For example, "currently slaughtered pork", "hand pancakes" and "CNC machine tools" cannot be used as trademarks, because such trademarks cannot significantly distinguish their own products from other similar products. It is easy to cause confusion of consumers and abuse of rights.

Therefore, when registering a trademark, we must pay attention to the distinctiveness of the trademark. The distinctiveness of the trademark is related to whether the trademark can be remembered easily in the future. The more prominent the trademark, the simpler the promotion.

How to make the trademark prominent?

1. Avoid generic names when naming trademarks

The common name of a commodity or service refers to the name of a commodity or service that is legally or conventionally used and widely used within a certain scope. When naming trademarks, we must avoid generic names.

2. Add descriptive words when using trademarks

When using a trademark, some descriptive words can be added to the trademark, such as "Zhonghua" as "Zhonghua Toothpaste", to prevent the trademark's significance from being weakened.

3. Use your own words when naming trademarks

When naming a trademark, you can create a word by yourself, so that you don't have to worry about whether the trademark will be similar to or the same as the trademark registered by others earlier, and you can also enhance the distinctiveness of the trademark. Words like Sina, Sohu and Tmall are all self created words, and now they have become well-known trademarks.