What is a Service Mark?

Companies that provide a service to consumers and to businesses must be distinguishable from other organizations that provide a similar service. One of the ways that a company can distinguish itself is by having a unique brand identity. This could be a symbol, word, phrase, series of words, or other identifying marks and phrases that help to distinguish one service provider from the other.

When a company that provides service has a distinguishing mark, phrase, symbol, or series of words, its distinguishing mark is referred to as a "service mark."  A service mark is very similar to a trademark; however, a trademark typically refers to a mark used to identify goods while a service mark refers to a mark used to identify services.  The attorneys at Curley & Rothman, LLC can help you protect your service mark from infringement.

What is a Service Mark?

The term trademark is typically used to refer to both service marks and trademarks, although there is technically a difference between them, depending upon whether the mark, words, or phrase is used to identify a particular provider of goods or a particular provider of services.

A service, in the context of trademark and intellectual property law, is an activity that a person or a company offers to benefit third parties that is qualitatively different from anything done in connection with the sale of goods. A service mark is a symbol that represents a brand's service.

Consumers rely on trademarks and service marks to decide who to do business with, so it's important to protect your service mark in case of infringement.