Descriptive terms describe a quality, feature, function, or purpose. They receive protection only upon acquiring secondary meaning, and geographic and surname marks are treated similarly.
Suggestive marks are inherently distinctive.
Alternative Names:
Merely Descriptive Mark|Descriptive Term
Why it Matters?
The descriptive and suggestive boundary determines whether secondary meaning is required, and the imagination test asking whether a consumer must exercise thought to connect the term to the product is the standard analysis. Descriptive fair use permits others to use the term descriptively in good faith, which is a separate defense available even against a mark that acquired distinctiveness.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
How is the descriptive line drawn?
What separate defense remains available?
