Question

Pete has some unique ideas about men’s fashion, and he has invented a new kind of tear-away suit. He has also come up with an insanely lewd and immoral picture to mark this suit, and he runs down to the USPTO to protect his idea. If this picture is distinctive and nonsimilar, what kind of protection will Pete receive?

Select one:

a. Trademark (TM)

b. Service mark (SM)

c. Either TM or SM

d. Neither TM nor SM

Answer 1

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.

A service mark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than goods.

In the case of Pete he created a picture which is distinctive for its tshirt business. Thus the picture will be used to distinguish goods. Thus, trademark should be used to protect idea.

Thus, Option A is correct.