What trade marks are registrable?

A trade mark attracts legal protection so long as it can distinguish your products – goods and/or services – from other people's.  Many things can function as trade marks, for instance a word or group of words, a logo, a picture, a particular colour scheme, a slogan, a packaging style or sometimes even a special product shape.

Marks can acquire the necessary distinctiveness through use, if customers come to recognise them as badges of origin.

A trade mark will not be registrable if it is descriptive of the products you use it on, or equally if it could be misleading when used on such products.  "CHROME FINISH", for instance, is unlikely to be registrable as a trade mark for taps – it would be descriptive if applied to chrome taps and misleading if applied to non-chrome ones.

Unlike for patents and designs, a trade mark does not have to be "new" to be registrable.  You do not have to keep it confidential before you apply to protect it.  You can register a trade mark, in fact, at any time you like, even if you've been using it unregistered for several years.