Benefits of Trademarks

Trademarks rights are limited to two categories: goods and services. Goods and services, in turn, are divided into trademark classes. If you are applying for a trademark, you must define which specific class of goods or services your product fits into. Typically, to obtain a trademark you must be the first person to use such a mark in your class. This trademark will give you the right to prevent others, in the same class, from using the same (or similar) trademark. For example, you can create the mark, Apple, for personal computers, but you won’t be able to stop a company that adopts the same name for their running shoes. However, reserving a trademark alone is not enough, because the trademark rights vest upon usage. Therefore, to get a full trademark protection your mark must be used in commerce.