Spectrum of Distinctiveness
Trademarks are typically grouped into four categories: (1) generic; (2) descriptive; (3) suggestive; or (4) arbitrary or fanciful.
A generic mark is the common name or nature of an article and is never entitled to trademark protection.
A descriptive mark conveys an immediate idea of the ingredients, qualities or characteristics of the goods. Descriptive marks can receive protection only if they have acquired secondary meaning, which means consumers associate only one source with the descriptive term. Even if the mark has acquired secondary meaning, competitors can use the mark in its ordinary descriptive sense.
Suggestive marks require imagination, thought, and perception to reach a conclusion as to the nature of the goods. These marks receive protection without establishing secondary meaning.
Fanciful marks are terms that are made up (like Kodak) or used in an arbitrary fashion for the goods they identify (like Apple). These marks also receive protection without establishing secondary meaning.
See Frosty Treats Inc. v. Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc., 426 F.3d 1001 (8th Cir. 2005). These categories do not have hard boundaries, and it is not always clear in which category a particular trademark should fall.
