Oficina española de Patentes y Marcas

A trade name is the sign or designation identifying a company in the trade and is used for distinguishing it from the other companies carrying out identical or similar activities.

A trade name, therefore, distinguishes a company that manufactures or markets the products or renders the services. A trademark, on the other hand, distinguishes the products or services that this company manufactures, markets or renders.

Thus, a trouser manufacturer would register the name it uses in its manufacturing business activities, as well as, for example, in its relations with suppliers, clients, etc., as the trade name.

The sign or name with which the trousers are commercialised will be the trademark of the product.

In previous legislation, the business sign existed was the registrable distinctive sign, which was the sign or designation distinguishing the business's premises. The current Trademark Act does not take this form of distinctive sign into account, as the owner of the trademark or trade name is entitled to use these signs on the façade of their business or establishment, and, therefore, this form of distinctive sign is no longer necessary.