What defines a trademark?

A trademark is fundamentally defined as legal protection for a brand name and its design. This means that a trademark helps distinguish the products or services of one company from those of others in the marketplace, thus helping to prevent consumer confusion. Trademarks can include various elements such as words, logos, symbols, or a combination of these that represent a company or its goods and services.

The significance of a trademark lies in its ability to provide the owner with exclusive rights over its use in commerce, which promotes brand loyalty and protects the brand's reputation. By securing this legal protection, companies can build and maintain their brand identity while also preventing others from using similar or identical marks that could mislead consumers.

In contrast, the other options are centered around different aspects of intellectual property or marketing. For example, product price information pertains to pricing strategies rather than brand identification, while the right to copy a creative work relates to copyright rather than trademark. Exclusive usage in marketing does not fully encompass the legal aspect of protection that a trademark provides and is more about strategies employed in advertising than legal rights.