What is the difference between Trade Mark and Property Mark?

The concept of a trade mark is distinct from that of a property mark. A mark, as defined by Section 2(1)(j) of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958, includes a device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature, word, letter or numerical or any combination thereof. A trade mark means a mark used in relation to goods for the purpose of indicating or so as to indicate a connection in the course of trade between the goods and some person having the right as proprietor to use that mark. The function of a trade mark is to give an indication to the purchaser or a possible purchaser as to the manufacture or quality of the goods, to give an indication to his eye of the trade source from which the goods come, or the trade hands through which they pass on their way to the market, (per Bowen, L.J., in In re Powell's Trade Mark (1893) 10 R.P.C. 200. On the other hand, a property mark, as defined by Section 479 of the Penal Code means a mark used for denoting that a movable property belongs to a particular person. Thus, the distinction between a trade mark and a property mark is that whereas the former denotes the manufacture or quality of the goods to which it is attached, the latter denotes the ownership in them. In other words, a trade mark concerns the goods themselves, while a property mark concerns the proprietor. A property mark attached to the movable property of a person remains even if part of such property goes out of his hands and ceases to be his.

Supreme Court of India

Sumat Prasad Jain vs Sheojanam Prasad (Dead) & Ors on 29 August, 1972

Equivalent citations: 1972 AIR 2488, 1973 SCR (1)1050

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