Trademark is a designation aimed at identifying the goods and services of the entrepreneur. Such designation helps the entrepreneur to promote the products on the market, increase the awareness of the products among customers, and prevent the unfair behavior of competitors copying brands or design of the entrepreneur’s products.

The classic examples of the trademark are word and image marks. For example, there are registered trademarks of such brands as “McDonalds”, “H&M”, “Samsung”, as well as logos of Apple, Nike, and Adidas.

At the same time, the legislation of various countries provides for the registration of such unusual designations as sound marks (for instance, Whiskas cat purring), color marks (e.g., brand color of Tiffany), dynamic marks (for example, color-changing "traffic light" from Yandex services, showing the degree of traffic congestion), and even odors.

In order to protect the trademark in a court, it shall be registered with a national or international trademark office, depending on the registration mechanism.

The trademark is registered for specific goods or services the list of which is provided in the International Classification of Goods and Services (ICGS).

The trademark registration is provided with the payment of trademark fees, the amount of which is established by the legislation of the particular country or by the international trademark registration system.
It is vital to notice that the registration of the trademark has its effect only within the state the trademark office of which registered the trademark! The exception is the application of regional and international trademark registration systems which enable applicants to protect their trademarks in several jurisdictions simultaneously.

For example, if you registered a trademark in the USA, such a trademark will not be protected in the neighbor Canada, despite the close economic relationships of two countries.

The registered trademark will allow you not only to protect your brand against counterfeit and unfair copying, but also to bring infringers to liability. The legislation of most countries provides trademark owners with the opportunity to collect damages or compensations from the persons infringing the trademark rights, and in some cases the amount of the collected damages or compensation may reach six figures.

Besides, the registered trademark can be used as the tool of legal tax optimization by concluding license agreements on the use of the trademark and application of tax benefits provided by double taxation treaties.