Types of trademarks and how to protect them properly

Can you imagine a world without trademarks? These distinctive trademarks have made it possible for most of a manufacturer’s everyday products or services to be differentiated from those of others. Having different types of trademarks ensures a variety of products on offer and makes it easier for consumers to identify and buy their favourite items. Without trademarks, market competition as we know it today would not exist. That would mean going back to time immemorial, when every service or product was generic and could only be identified by the artisan who made it, by its quality and its origin.

As an entrepreneur or an established businessman, it is in your interest to know the different types of trademarks that exist and how to protect their ownership. Read on!

What are they and what are the most common types of trademark?

In essence, trademarks are distinctive signs that allow products and/or services produced or provided by a company to be differentiated. As we said, their function is to make it easier for the consumer to identify the goods or services of a specific manufacturer or supplier and to individualise them in the market. There are even many cases in which trademarks differentiate different production lines of the same manufacturer. For example, we know Inditex which is the trade name of the organisation dedicated to the design, manufacture and marketing of clothing. Each of its brands identifies a production line with different marketing channels: Zara, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, etc.

Types of trademark by the breadth of their coverage

An initial classification of trademarks is suggested by Trademark Law 17/2001, of 7 December. Precisely because this regulates these distinctive trademarks according to the range of products to which they refer. In this way, it distinguishes between trademarks:

  • Individual, whose definition is implicit in the generic concept of trademark that we have just explained and exemplified.
  • Collective. These are the types of trademarks that distinguish the products or services of the members of an association of manufacturers, traders or service providers on the market from others. The owners of these collective trademarks will be the representatives of such associations who, in accordance with Article 62.2 of the aforementioned Law, have the capacity, in their own name, to be the owners of rights and obligations, to enter into contracts or to carry out other legal acts. However, paragraph 3 of the same article clarifies that trademarks or indications that identify the geographical origin of goods and services in trade may also be registered as collective trademarks.
  • Guarantee trademarks. These are trademarks that guarantee or certify that the products or services to which they are applied meet a series of common requirements. In particular, with regard to their quality, components, geographical origin, technical conditions, method of production of the product, etc. In this regard, Article 68.2 states that: ‘(…) Any natural or legal person, including institutions, authorities and bodies governed by public law, may apply for guarantee trademarks, provided that such persons do not carry on a business involving the supply of products or the provision of services of the kind certified (…)’. The designations of origin of agricultural products, wines and others are included in this category. As are ISO standards and European quality regulations.

Types of trademark according to their identifying characteristics

Of course, there is a classification of types of trademarks according to their design characteristics, format, use of elements and the medium in which they are embodied. From this perspective, we have trademarks:

  • Word marks. These are made up solely of letters, words, special characters and numbers in standard typography. They are not normally filed by graphic characteristics, layout or colour.
  • Figurative. In this case, we are talking about trademarks made up of words, letters or numbers with stylised characters, not arranged in a standard way. They may or may not include graphic or colour elements. Also included in this category are trademarks that are made up solely of graphic elements. For example, the Nike swoosh.
  • Three-dimensional. As the name suggests, these are trademarks that are embodied in three-dimensional formats or media. Excellent examples are the designs on Coca-Cola bottles.
  • Positional. That is to say, those trademarks that depend on the specific way in which they are placed or appear on the product.
  • Pattern. These would be those made up of a series of constantly repeated elements.
  • Colour. These are trademarks designed exclusively on the basis of a single colour or a combination of colours without outlines.
  • Sound. These are trademarks that can be identified by a sound or combination of sounds. The sound that identifies the start of Windows on our computers is a good example.
  • In motion. The trademarks of this modality are noticeable thanks to a movement or a change in the position of their elements.
  • Multimedia. In particular, we are talking about trademarks created by a combination of sound and image.
  • Holograms. These trademarks are developed from holographic elements.

Finally, we should mention those trademarks that do not fit into any of the formats explained. This is the case of olfactory trademarks, identifiable by smell and represented by a chemical formula.

How can we protect the different types of trademark?

In this respect, Article 2 of the Trademark Law that we quote is clear in establishing that ‘(…) The right of ownership over the trademark and the trade name is is acquired by validly registering it in accordance with the provisions of this Law (…).”

One of the effects of registering a trademark and its application is that it grants the right to exclusivity over it. Consequently, the owner of a trademark has the power to prohibit any third party from using their trademark in the course of trade without their consent in the cases contemplated in Article 34. To tell the truth, the right conferred by the registration of the trademark is only valid against third parties from the publication of its grant. Even so, the trademark registration application itself confers provisional protection on the owner from the date of its publication. This consists of the right to demand reasonable and adequate compensation from a third party who, between that date and the date of publication of the grant, makes use of the trademark that would be prohibited after that period.

Your trademark will be registered for ten years from the date you file the application. And you can renew it for successive ten-year periods.

At Isern we manage trademark registration applications

If you want to know the requirements and steps to register a trademark you can consult one of our previous articles, as well as request advice from our experts. At ISERN Patentes y Marcas we have almost 100 years of experience in registering patents, trademarks, logos, distinctive trademarks, designs and more. We have offices in the 12 most important cities in Spain. Contact us now!

If you have any enquiry about Trademarks, Designs or Patents, contact us

Name*
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Controller: Isern Patentes y Marcas, S.L. Purpose: respond to the enquiries received and send commercial mailings with information about the sector and our services. Legal grounds: consent of the interested party. Recipients: data shall not be transferred to third parties except under legal obligation. Rights: access, rectification, deletion, limitation, opposition, portability (provided that it is possible) and not subject to automated individualised decisions. More information.