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 Unlike suggestive and descriptive trademarks, arbitrary trademarks do not describe the products or services for which they apply. An arbitrary trademark uses common words that are irrelevant to the particular product or service, making arbitrary trademarks largely protectable within an industry. Those words might be descriptive in other industries but have no relevance to the company registering the trademark. For example, a common example of an arbitrary trademark is “Apple Computer,” which is a random choice of fruit for a technology company. However, a farmer would likely be unsuccessful in an attempt to register a trademark for “Apple Farms” because that trademark would be descriptive in the agricultural industry.
Companies registering trademarks for arbitrary product or service names usually won’t encounter much resistance. Examples of arbitrary trademarks from the technology industry include “Cubic Corp.” and “Sun Microsystems Inc.” Although “cubic” and “sun” are common words, they have nothing to do with computers or other technology goods and services that the companies offer. Because the company or product name borrows a common word and uses it out of context, the United States Patent and Trademark Office is likely to approve such a trademark registration.
For more information on arbitrary trademarks or trademark registration, call Trademark Armor at 1-877-350-6275 for a free consultation, or click the button below for more information.
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1-877-350-6275
