A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.

A service mark is the same as a trademark, except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product.

Often times you will see the word trademark, or just “mark”, used to refer to both trademarks and service marks. So while there is a technical difference between the two, don’t get too hung up on the differences.

The above definitions, when examined closely say more about trademarks then what appears on the surface. We’ll discuss the trademark nuances in other posts.