Trade marks are signs used in trade to identify products. In the framework of intellectual property law trade marks are practical little items.

In the European Union, Member States have harmonised their trade mark laws. From Tallinn to Toledo the rules are the same. Everywhere in the Union, registered trade marks are legally defined in the same way:

‘A trade mark may consist of any signs capable of being represented graphically, particularly words, including personal names, designs, letters, numerals, the shape of goods or of their packaging, provided that such signs are capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings.’