According to article 134 of Decision 486 of the Andean Community, a trademark is “any sign that is suitable to distinguish products or services in the market”. In addition to this, the mentioned article points out that: “the signs susceptible of a graphic representation can be registered as trademarks.”
Based on the above, a trademark must have the following characteristics:
– Perceptibility, which means that the sign can be “apprehended” in the market;
– Graphic representation, which indicates the possibility of describing the sign;
– Distinctiveness, the most important of all features because it supposes that the sign can be differentiated from the rest in the market.
The following signs can be understood as a trademark:
– Words or a combination of words;
– Images, figures, symbols, graphics, monograms, portraits, labels, emblems, and badges;
– Sounds and smells;
– Letters and numbers;
– A color delimited by a form or a color combination;
– The products form, their packaging or wrapping;
– Any combination of the signs or indicated media in the former sections.
The above-mentioned signs lead to the existence of nominative, figurative, mixed (design), three-dimensional, sound, and olfactory trademarks, among others.