There is a differences between a trademark and service mark. A trademark is a legal distinction of a name, sound, logo, device, word, color or a combination of any of these items where it is protected by use. It protects the brand of that items so that it is exclusive and cannot be used by another. A trademark can be renewed forever just so long as it is used for business purposes. A trademark is used to identify one business from another business.
A service mark identifies the logo, name, device or a combination of these that is used to identify a service that a business provides and it names the origin of the service.
The main difference between a trademark versus service mark is that a trademark refers to goods or products, and a service mark only exclusively refers to a service that is exclusive.
The purpose behind each of these distinctions is to identify the product or the service as being exclusive to that business, and that business alone. It serves as a protective device for the business that provides the product or the service so that no other person or entity can copy it and use it.
If someone else should promote a product or a service like one that has a trademark or a service mark, the owner of the trademark or service mark would have legal standing to bring an action against the wrongful party causing them to legally have to stop using and promoting that product or service.
The trademark and service mark distinctions protect the original parties from having their business product or service stolen and misused. This then provides protection for the original business so that their original idea stays with the originator of that product or service.
