ELEMENTS OF SUITABLE TRADEMARK AND CLASSIFICATION

1. Arbitrary - common words which when applied to certain goods or services, neither suggest nor describe any characteristic of those goods or services. Examples are Camel cigarettes and Apple Computer.
2. Fanciful – “coined” words invented solely for the purpose of functioning as a mark. Examples are Clorox and Kodak.
3. Suggestive – requires imagination/deduction.
4. Descriptive – marks that describe some characteristic or alleged merit of a product or service. Because descriptive terms may be truthfully applied to the goods and services, they are not entitled to protection unless they have acquired “secondary meaning” in the marketplace.
5. Generic – marks that tell what a product or service is, rather than indicating the source of
a product; thus, they must remain in the public domain and can never function as a trademark. Examples are fresh fruits, flower shop.

APPLICATION FOR TRADEMARK REGISTRATION
must contain:
1. the request for registration of trademark
2. the goods and/or services in connection with which the mark will be used and
3. name of the applicant and his representative and enclose the reproduction of mark.
Application must be filed at the Bureau of Trademarks in the Intellectual Property Office. On
receipt of application, an examiner checks if the application includes all the requirements needed to get the filing date. The filing date is very important under the current ‘first to file’ system because it serves to determine, in case of a dispute with another application for the same or similar mark, who has the prior right and, therefore, entitled to the registration of
a mark.