Trademark and commercial designation: example. Commercial designation is ...

In order to distinguish itself from thousands of competitors and make it recognizable to consumers, enterprises use several methods. One of them is the creation of a commercial designation.

What is a commercial designation

Commercial designation is a way of individualizing an enterprise that has gained fame in a particular territory with its services or products. This designation is not legally fixed, but it briefly and accurately reflects its main features.

Additional signs of commercial designation include the following:

• Use it exclusively in commercial activities. A charitable foundation, for example, can not acquire rights to a commercial designation.
• The object of commercial designation can be only enterprises that have property used for commercial activities. It can be not only production facilities, but also cafes, shops, pavilions, etc.

Sometimes for simplification of an explanation lead an example the commercial designation - a signboard. Indeed, a sign is the most typical external expression of a commercial designation. It is located in commercial enterprises and makes them recognizable to potential consumers. But one example of a commercial designation can not be limited to one.

Variants of commercial designation

Legislation does not apply any rules to the creation of a commercial designation. Therefore, it depends entirely on the discretion and interest of the enterprise.

1. The first example. Commercial designation consisting only of original words:

• "Gifts of Poseidon".
• "World of travel".
• "Window of Europe".
• "Spetsmash".

2. The second example. The commercial designation may include the place of business:

• Savelovsky market.
• The Nizhniy Novgorod sausages.
• Minihotel "Tver".
• Cafe "At the Poplar".

3 . The third example. Commercial designation, including an indication of the occupation:

• Seafood store "Gifts of Poseidon".
• Travel company "World of Travel".
• Production company "Window of Europe".
• Precision equipment factory "Spetsmash".

4. The fourth example. Commercial designation may contain a reference to the owner's identity:

• Atelier "At Larissa".
• Photostudio A. Novikov.
• Law firm Kozlov & Partners.

As a result, the company has a great scope for creating its own commercial designation, which can clearly and clearly distinguish it among competitors.

Commercial designation or company name?

In Russia, at the legislative level, the right to the following types of individualization is recognized:

• Commercial designation;
• Commercial company name;
• Place of origin of goods;
• trademark.

Commercial designation is similar to the brand name in its essence. What unites them is that they are used to individualize the enterprise as a whole, without affecting services or goods.

But the differences between them are much greater:

• Commercial designation is registered only on a voluntary basis, and the company name must be officially registered in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities;
• The company name can not be transferred to other persons, and the commercial designation can be transferred under a lease agreement, a concession agreement or a franchise;
• Commercial designation may belong to any type of commercial enterprise, and the corporate name may only belong to legal entities.

Trademark or trademark?

Often the question arises - what is the difference between a trademark and a trademark. Both these concepts occur he English term trademark, consisting of two words:

• Trade , translated into Russian as "commercial activity, trade";
• Mark , meaning "mark, mark, sign".

Thus, literal translation by trademark means "trademark" or "trademark". These words are synonyms, denoting the same thing, but the Civil Code uses only one - a trademark. In the international community, two signs are used, for trademark designations: the letter R enclosed in a circle, or TM. R means registered - "registered", and TM comes from the reduction of TradeMark. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation legislatively considers only one of them - R or R in the circle.

Know how

The intellectual property that distinguishes an enterprise from competitors can include any information (technical, economic, production) that have commercial value because they are unknown to anyone else. These secrets allow the company to profitably differ from its competitors and bring it real profits. Having lost these secrets, the firm can lose important advantages. A classic example of the production secret is the exact classic composition of Coca-Cola stored in SunTrust Bank in Atlanta.

Protection of intellectual property

There is no mandatory registration of commercial designations. But it is possible to register it voluntarily. In Russia, for these purposes, the Federal Institute of Industrial Property maintains a register of various types of intellectual property.

Having registered in the open registry its own logo or the name of the place of origin of the goods, the commercial structure can easily prove its primacy in the event of disputes over their belonging. Another, no less important aspect of the importance of applying to the register of trademarks is the opportunity to check whether the trademark developed for the new company is similar to the designation of another previously registered company so that it does not subsequently have problems with entering the new territory.

The right to commercial designation

The exclusive right extends to any object of intellectual property, including commercial designation. It prohibits the use of persons who are not related to the firm.

The content of this exclusive right consists of two inextricable aspects:

• Positive. Its owner can use the commercial designation in any way: on documents, in advertising, on signs, etc.
• Negative. Its owner may prohibit the use of commercial designation by any unauthorized person. If someone uses a commercial designation without the knowledge of its owner, then it violates his rights. The owner of the commercial right may demand compensation for the losses incurred and stop the illegal use.

The territory to which the exclusive right extends is not unlimited and confined to the locality where this designation became known, if this designation is not registered in the register of trademarks.