A trademark is defined as any kind of distinctive sign or indicator that is used to identify particular products and services. A trademark can be used by an individual, a business organisation, or any other kind of legal entity to identify themselves to their customers. For many businesses around the world, trademarks are a vital business asset and an important part of creating brand identity and recognition. A trademark lawyer (Anwalt Markenrecht) is often used to protect individual trademarks, by setting up the legal registration process that is used to mark particular trademarks and define them in the process of law.

A trademark can come in a number of forms, and can be either registered or unregistered. Typically, a trademark is a name, logo, symbol, or design, and it can also be a combination of a number of these individual elements. In addition to this, there is also a growing range of more unconventional trademarks in use around the world, such as colours, smells, or sounds. If a trademark has been infringed or copied in any way, legal proceedings are often required, and this is where specialist trademark lawyers come into play. Trademark lawyers are very important for a number of businesses around the world, and are used in both the initial setting up of trademarks and the protections related to legal proceedings if an infringement has taken place.

Every business has a number of assets that it relies upon everyday, and trademarks are often the most valuable of all. A trademark is considered by law to be a form of property. As a form of property, it is subject to proprietary rights that are established through either its use in the market or its registration. A registered trademark confers a bundle of rights to the registered owner, which includes the important right to the exclusive use of the trademark for all the goods and services for which it is registered. While different jurisdictions have different interpretations of the laws that surround trademark use, they can always be established through either or both of these means. Trademark lawyers are vital for the initial setting up and on-going protection of trademarks, for all sorts of business enterprises around the world.