Registration and Enforceability of Non-Traditional Trademarks in the United States

A trademark can be more than merely a word or a device. The broad statutory definition of a trademark in the Lanham Act have been relied upon to register and enforce a number of non-traditional marks, including sounds, shapes, colors and on a few occasions, smells.

Originally published in The Computer & Internet Lawyer, Volume 22, Number 11, September 2005, pages 26-33. Reprinted with permission from Aspen Publishers, a WolterKluwer Company, New York, New York.