Preguntas frecuentes

The sign you want to register must be lawful and able to carry out the relevant identifying and differentiating functions of a trademark, which means that it must not incur any of the strictly prohibited aspects established by law. It should also be available, meaning that it does not conflict with any previous rights, either of a trademark or any other personality right such as the right to a name or own image or any other intellectual property right, etc.

The following signs or media can constitute a trademark:

• a) Words or combinations of words, including those that serve to identify people. For example, “DULCILIA” to distinguish products or services, or “El Juli” as an artistic name.
• b) Images, figures, symbols and graphics, for example the picture of a horse with its front hooves raised that distinguishes Ferrari cars, or a crocodile for Lacoste clothing.
• c) Letters, numbers and their combinations, for example BBVA, Licor 43 and S-3.
• d) Three-dimensional forms, including packaging, containers, the product's shape or its presentation.
• e) Sounds.
• f) Any combination of the signs or media, included but not limited to those mentioned in the above paragraphs.

The law establishes a series of limitations:

• Signs that are not distinctive enough to be distinguishable, for example, a dot or a line without another characterising element, as it would be hard for these to be perceived as a "trademark" by the consumer.
• Generic and specific signs, for example chocolate to distinguish "chocolate", those that are composed exclusively of signs that in trade or in normal language have become a required or habitual designation of a certain product or service, for example, "spring rolls" to distinguish food products.
• Descriptive signs: those which are composed exclusively of signs or indications that serve within the retail trade to designate the species, quality, destination, value, geographical origin, production season of a product or the provision of a service or other features of the products or of the service, for example, "select edition" or "May strawberries".
• Misleading signs, for example, “Oleoliva” to distinguish other types of oil and edible fats.
• Unlawful signs or signs that contravene public order, for example, any xenophobic or sexist trademark.
• Forms that are imposed for technical reasons or by the nature of the product or that affect their intrinsic value, for example, the picture of a satellite dish to distinguish satellite dishes or that of a car windscreen wiper for windscreen wipers, or the picture of a pencil with no decorative or distinguishing features.
• Denominations of origin, geographical indications, traditional terms of wines or traditional specialties guaranteed that are protected by laws that prevent their registration, and the name of plant varieties in some specific cases.
• Certain legally protected signs such as flags and coats of arms belonging to states, autonomous regions, etc.

The SPTO has a Guide to Registration Prohibitions on its web page where you will find examples and specific cases of the criteria used by the Office to analyse absolute and relative prohibitions of distinctive signs.