Vocabulary

Trademark                              any sign which serves in business to distinguish the goods and services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings and over which the owner has an exclusive right. The trademark may consist of any signs capable of being represented graphically, particularly words, including personal names, designs, letters, numerals, the shape of goods or of their packaging, provided that such signs are capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings.
 
A sign                                      any sign (word or figurative) used for labelling the goods and services. The main difference between a sign and a trademark is in their legal force. A trademark reserves to its holder the rights, fixed by the law, while a sign doesn´t reserve to its user an excusivity of utilisation. A sign can become a trademark after its registration.
 
®                                          an international symbol for a registered trademark.It cannot be used together with a non-registered sign.
 
TM                                           an international symbol for a business sign (in the european legal background) - it can be used with any sign, not only with a registered trademark. Its puspose is to indicate an exclusive right of its holder, even if the sign is not registered.
 
Search service                       a proceeding, realised before the trademark registration, to evaluate the distinctiveness of an intended trademark and the potential likelihood of confusion with other registered trademarks. Existence of any identical or similar trademarks, registered for the similar gods or services, is a reason of rejection of the application by the Office.
 
Likelihood of confusion        possible similarity of two trademarks for an ordinary consumer. A likelihood of confusion is a relative ground for refusal of a trademark application.
 
OHIM                                       Office for the harmonisation of the Internal Market. An office of the EU, seated in Alicante, Spain, competent for the registration of the Community trademarks and designs, valid in all the member states of the EU.