A graphic symbol may be registered as a trademark. It may consist of words, images or a combination of the two. Also the shape, accessories and packaging of a product can form a trademark. The most recent types of trademarks having become effective are sound marks and smell marks.

A registered trademark may not be purely descriptive. Therefore, protection cannot be obtained for text used to describe a product. This applies to marks only stating the nature of the product or properties of the product, such as "wholemeal bread" for bread or "shoes" for footwear.

If a more recent trademark (or company name) may be confused with an earlier trademark, to which someone else holds the exclusive rights, the later mark cannot be registered, nor should it be used. We therefore recommend that a trademark search should be carried out among rights already registered, before deciding which trademark to use and register.

A trademark does not have to be new to be registered.