What is a trademark?

Buc-ee’s, a Texas-based chain of mega travel centers, is suing a Dayton area market, Beaver’s Mini Mart, alleging trademark infringement over the use of a sign depicting a smiling cartoon beaver, reports the Dayton Daily News. 

The owner of Beaver's Mini Mart, a mom-and-pop style convenience store, says his store’s sign has been in use since 2019, long before Buc-ee’s came to the Dayton area. And Beaver’s Min Mart, a neighborhood store of about 2,000 square feet, does not sell gasoline, like Buc-ee’s, reports the Dayton Daily News.

Buc-ee’s says in its lawsuit that Beaver’s Mini Mart started using their logo after Buc-ee’s registered its trademark decades ago.

Sean Owens, an adjunct professor in the Donald P. Klekamp College of Law, offered some background about trademarks to the Dayton Daily News. Owens is also a partner at intellectual property law firm Wood Herron & Evans in Cincinnati.

He says a trademark is a source identifier of a product or service and that the point of trademark law is to prevent confusion among consumers over products. For example, when someone purchases a soft drink and it has a certain taste and is known to be a reliable product, the consumer can distinguish whether it’s Coca-Cola, Pepsi or another brand.

“It allows me to know who’s producing it and what the characteristics of the product or service are going to be like,” explains Owens, who teaches trademark law and advertising law.

Trademarks are considered company assets and can be valuable in establishing consumer recognition, loyalty, goodwill and reliability in the marketplace, Owens told the Dayton Daily News.

Companies can gain some trademark rights simply by using a name or logo over time. But federal registration gives stronger nationwide protection and legal proof that the trademark is valid and owned by the company, Owens says.

Similar trademarks can co-exist as long as their goods and services are dissimilar enough. An example is Dove chocolate and Dove beauty products, which share the same name and similar logo but operate in separate industries without any corporate connection, adds Owens.

“Infringement is when another party, typically a junior party, starts using a similar trademark with similar products or services in a way that is likely to cause confusion among consumers,” Owens told the Dayton Daily News.

Read the full story online in the Dayton Daily News.

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