Back to Trademark basics

Is it possible to trademark a specific keyword or name?

Written by Jan Buza

Co-founder of Trama

A keyword or name can be trademarked if it is sufficiently distinctive in relation to the goods or services it will be used with.

If the keyword is generic or directly descriptive of the goods or services, it will be refused. "Appliance" for a white goods retailer, or "Software" for a technology company, would both fail on distinctiveness grounds. A keyword that has no descriptive connection to the goods or services, or one that has acquired distinctiveness through extensive commercial use, stands a much better chance.

The test is the same as for any other trademark: does the mark identify a single commercial source, or does it merely describe the offering? If the former, it can be registered; if the latter, it cannot.

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