Descriptive trademarks: easy to market, tough to protect

For instance, the words ‘apple’ for fruits and ‘all bran’ for cereals would be considered descriptive in nature. As a general rule, such words do not qualify for trademark registration and an objection can be raised by the registrar if he is of the view that the mark applied for registration falls into this category. However, such an objection may be overcome by establishing that the mark has acquired a distinctive character by virtue of its use or that it is a well-known mark.