Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index A defensive trade mark is a type of trade mark often registered by owners of well-known trade marks. If a registered trade mark has been used so much in relation to all or any of the goods or services for which it has been registered that it has become so well-known within the jurisdiction of registration that use by a third party of the mark would be likely to detract from its distinctive character, then this mark may be registered as a defensive trade mark. An example of a registered defensive trade mark is "SONY". The use of this mark by its owner in relation to electronic goods has become so pervasive that it has been allowed to be registered as a defensive mark. The result is that a third party may not use the mark for other types of goods or services - for example, a person may not set up a SONY restaurant and register a trade mark for the name, or establish a SONY rifle range and register a trade mark for the name, because of the existence of the defensive trade mark. Defensive trade marks are very similar to ghost marks: defensive trade marks are effectively the solution for the problem which was to be addressed by ghost marks. Many jurisdictions have been required to amend their trade mark legislation in order to accommodate the requirement of protection of defensive trade marks under TRIPs. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.