Proper usage is essential to protecting and maintaining valuable rights in trade-marks. The general rule is ‘use it or lose it’: unless a trade-mark is actually used continuously in connection with products or services, rights will erode and eventually be lost. Should a trade-mark be used improperly, it can become unenforceable and therefore of no value. The primary rule is that a trade-mark must indicate the source of goods or services and distinguish those goods/services from others. It is important to ensure that when the trade-mark is adopted and used, it is regarded by the public as being a trade-mark and not as a generic usage.

The following is a brief list of the most important considerations in using any trade-mark, whether registered or not...