A trademark is a type of intellectual property, and typically a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of these elements used by an individual, business organization or other legal entity to identify uniquely the source of its products and/or services to consumers, and to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities.
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Beware: Generic Words Can Indeed Be Trademarked
In article by Sabra Chartrand in the New York Times (March 13, 1995), makes it clear that the name of electronic products — books, photos, music, and titles — can be a bone of contention. Did you know that the Microsoft Corporation owns the rights to use the word bookshelf as applied to any CD-ROM product? In 1991, the software giant trademarked the term to cover its collection of reference books, Microsoft Bookshelf.
Editorial Eye, The (2003). Articles>Intellectual Property>Trademark>Writing
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Keyword or Trademark? Beware of PPC Poachers
When it comes to online advertising, one of the tools your competitor has may be your company's name, trademark or service mark. Google and Overture allow advertisers to purchase company and product names as keywords in pay-per-click campaigns. This allows companies to poach potential customers from their competition by having their ads appear whenever a consumer searches for a competitor by name.
Janisch, Troy. evolt (2005). Articles>Intellectual Property>Trademark
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Register, Trademark and Copyright Symbols
Register, trademark and copyright symbols are important communicators. They help establish brand identities and protect creative work from theft or plagiarism. Despite their legal and symbolic power, these symbols need to speak softly, typographically speaking. Their tasteful and appropriate use is a small but significant part of good typography.
Strizver, Ilene. Upper and lowercase Magazine (2002). Articles>Intellectual Property>Trademark>Typography
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According to the U.S. Lanham Act, a trademark is generally a 'word, name, symbol, or device, or combination thereof' that is used to 'identify and distinguish...goods, including a unique product, from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source of the goods, even if that source is unknown.' Similarly, a service mark identifies and distinguishes services, rather than goods. Trademark infringement occurs when a person, without permission, uses another person's trademark or service mark in a commercial manner that is likely to cause confusion among the public. Trademark dilution, a less common legal violation, occurs when a person uses another person's famous trademark commercially without permission if doing so dilutes the distinctive quality of the trademark, even if there is no likelihood of confusion.
Isenberg, Doug. TECHWR-L (2000). Articles>Intellectual Property>Trademark
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Pay attention to the legal requirements and translatability issues, not only in your own documents, but in the documents of other groups like marketing and engineering. It's an area where we add value.
Hughes, Michael A. User Assistance (2009). Articles>Intellectual Property>Trademark>Technical Writing
#35748
Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway (or, the Privatization of the English Language) 
I find it unbelievable that a common phrase (that was used way before it was the title of any book) can be trademarked. We’re not talking about the names of products … we’re talking about the English language. You know, the words many of us use for such things as … talking, and writing, and general communication? Perhaps I’m a little behind the times, but is it really possible to claim whole chunks of the language, and force people to get permission to use the language, just in everyday speech?
Babauta, Leo. Zen Habits (2009). Articles>Intellectual Property>Trademark>Writing
