business trademark branding
what happens if a brand or company&#39;s name is a common everyday word?
<p>What happens if a company name is an already existing commonly used word, i.e. Always?
Could for example, a movie studio decide to make a movie and call it "Always", even though there is a feminine care company brand with the same name?
Can common words such as "always" be trademarked by one specific company, or are they too much of a general word for such a claim?</p>

<p>The thing your example seems to miss is that trademark protection does not prevent other people from using the trademark <em>for any purpose whatsoever;</em> it only concerns the use of the trademark for the purpose of selling <em>a particular product or service.</em>  A movie studio can call their movie <em>Always</em> because they're not selling feminine hygiene products.  Indeed, even if they were selling something else it might be fine; consider Delta Airlines and the Delta Faucet Company or Dove chocolate and Dove soap.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Can common words such as "always" be trademarked ...</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Why yes. As your question notes, the word <em>has</em> been trademarked.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>... by one specific company?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>For each product, yes.  But an unrelated company might be able to trademark "always" in connection with an unrelated product.</p>

<p>The standard for trademark registration is distinctiveness. Is the mark distinctive with respect to the source or producer of the goods or services?</p>

<p>Proposed marks that already have a meaning fall into <a href="https://mpep.uspto.gov/RDMS/TMEP/print?version=Oct2012&amp;href=TMEP-1200d1e6993.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">three categories</a>:</p>

<ul>
<li>marks that are arbitrary ("APPLE", for computers) or suggestive ("DROPBOX", for the cloud storage service)</li>
<li>marks that are merely descriptive ("REGISTRY OF MEDICAL PATHOLOGISTS")</li>
<li>marks that are generic terms ("COMPUTER", for computers, or "APPLE", for apples)</li>
</ul>

<p>Arbitrary or suggestive marks are immediately registrable without having to prove acquired distinctiveness.</p>

<p>Marks that are merely descriptive are registrable only after proving that the mark has acquired distinctiveness.</p>

<p>Generic marks are never registrable.</p>
