Considerations When Using Descriptive or Generic Trademark Terms

I. Adding Distinctive Terms or Logos to a Descriptive or Generic Term Will Not Protect the Descriptive or Generic Term.

A descriptive trademark1 is one that immediately brings to mind a use, purpose, function, characteristic, ingredient, or class of end users, of the product or service with which the mark is used. A descriptive mark can only be protected upon a showing of acquired distinctiveness, which is also called secondary meaning. A generic mark describes the category of the product or service with which it is used and can never be protected.