What is a brand?

In the legal sense, a trademark is a "sign used to distinguish the goods or services of one natural or legal person from those of other natural or legal persons" ( nouvel article L.711-1 du Code de la propriété intellectuelle (CPI) ). It is an identifying sign that consumers can recognize as belonging to a given company, and constitutes a rallying element for customers.

In today's market, the definition of a trademark is much broader than that given by the French Intellectual Property Code. A trademark is an attribute of a company, encompassing not only the distinctive sign chosen and registered, but also all the...