Trademark is a bit of an odd duck in the Intellectual Property family, but it provides features that can be useful in a business's overall legal strategy.  Originally, trademarks were important to help consumers identify the source of goods they purchased.  In this, they served both consumers and manufacturers: a consumer who once bought a product he liked, could find the same product again by looking for the same logo; and a manufacturer could distinguish its products among look-alike competitors by placing the logo prominently.  This only works, though, if people other than the trademark-using manufacturer are prohibited from using the same mark.  This is the essence of trademark law.

The world has changed, and trademark law has changed with it.  Now, a trademark can be used to lend support from old lines of business to new: if you liked Dow's floor cleaner, perhaps you will also enjoy their new dessert topping — the one you recognize by the small red diamond on the can.  Trademarks can have intrinsic value: someone may reject one of two identical pairs of shoes, made in the same sweatshop in Malaysia, merely because one pair lacks the trademark logo of the other.  The price difference between real and counterfeit goods is another indicator of a trademark's value.  Goods are "counterfeit" not because they're poorly made, but because they bear a trademark falsely indicating their source.

If your business has developed a reputation for good service or quality products, which are identified by a trade name, logo, color or musical jingle, you may be able to earn extra revenues by licensing your trademark to others.  Or you may wish to prevent someone from going into a similar business, if they choose a name or logo that's too much like your own.  Or someone else may be unhappy that your business name is too much like theirs, and they claim to have been using it first.  Mersenne Law llc's legal advice can help you select the best course of action in these, and similar, situations.