Odger's English Common Law

TRADE MARKS. 611
A trade mark is " a mark used or proposed to be used
upon or in connection with goods for the purpose of indicat-
ing that they are the goods of the proprietor of such trade
mark." 1 The word "mark" includes "a device, brand,
heading, label, ticket, name, signature, word, letter, numeral
or any combination thereof," 1 and the sale of any goods so
marked imports, in the absence of an express agreement to
the contrary, a warranty that the trade mark is genuine and
not forged or falsely applied. 2
;
The object of a trader in using a trade mark is to distinguish
his goods from those of other manufacturers. Hence the
mark must be distinctive ; it must distinguish the owner's
goods from others on the market. " The function of a
trade mark is to give an indication to the purchaser or possible
purchaser as to the manufacture or quality of the goods—to
give an indication to his eye of the trade source from which
the goods come, or the trade hands through which they pass
on their way to the market. It tells the person who is about
to buy, or considering whether he shall buy, that what is
presented to him is either what he has known before under
the similar name, as coming from a source with which he is
acquainted, or that it is what he has heard of before as coming
from that similar source." 3
A register of trade marks is kept at the Patent Office and
is open to the inspection of the public. It contains all
registered trade marks, with the names and addresses of
their proprietors
4
but no notice of any trust affecting the
trade mark is entered on the register. " Each trade mark
must be registered in respect of particular goods or classes of
goods." 5 "A registrable trade mark must contain or con-
sist of at least one of the following essential particulars :
(1) The name of a company, individual or firm repre-
sented in a special or particular manner ;
i 5 Edw. VII. c. 15, s. 3.
2 Merchandise Marks Act, 1887 (50 & 51 Vict. c. 28), s. 17.
» Per Bowen, L. J., in In re Powell's Trade Mark, [18931 2 Ch. at pp. 403, 404.
t 5 Edw. VII. c. 15, s. 4.
* S. 8.
39—2
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