Trademark

A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a recognizable sign, design, or expression which identifies products or services of a particular source from those of others, although trademarks used to identify services are usually called service marks. The trademark owner can be an individual, business organization, or any legal entity. A trademark may be located on a package, a label, a voucher, or on the product itself. For the sake of corporate identity, trademarks are being displayed on company buildings.

Usage

A trademark identifies the brand owner of a particular product or service. Trademarks can be licensed to others; for example, Bullyland obtained a license to produce Smurf figurines; the Lego Group purchased a license from Lucasfilm in order to be allowed to launch Lego Star Wars; TT Toys Toys is a manufacturer of licensed ride-on replica cars for children. The unauthorized usage of trademarks by producing and trading counterfeit consumer goods is known as brand piracy.

The owner of a trademark may pursue legal action against trademark infringement. Most countries require formal registration of a trademark as a precondition for pursuing this type of action. The United States, Canada and other countries also recognize common law trademark rights, which means action can be taken to protect an unregistered trademark if it is in use. Still common law trademarks offer the holder in general less legal protection than registered trademarks.

M86

M86 or M-86 may refer to:

M-86 (Michigan highway)

M-86 is an east–west state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan in the southern portion of the Lower Peninsula. The highway starts at Business US Highway 131 (Bus. US 131) and M-60 in Three Rivers and ends at US Highway 12 (US 12) near Coldwater. In between, it crosses farm country and runs along a section of the Prairie River. Following a highway originally numbered M-7, the roadway was renumbered M-86 in 1940. It has been a part of the state highway system at least since 1927. Two other roadways carried the M-86 designation in the 1920s. Two bridges along the road are eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places (NHRP).

Route description

M-86 begins in Three Rivers at a junction with Bus. US 131 and M-60. From there the road travels south out of town on Main Street and across the St. Joseph River. After crossing the river, the highway runs through a residential area of town and turns eastward into rural farm lands. M-86 crosses the Prairie River and follows Burr Oak Street into the community of Centreville. The highway switches to follow Main Street through downtown Centreville; east of downtown, Main Street curves along a bend in the river, and it runs parallel to the river out of town. As part of its support of the state highway system, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) tracks the traffic levels along the roads it maintains. These traffic counts are expressed in terms of average annual daily traffic (AADT), a calculation of the vehicles using a segment of roadway on a typical day of the year. In 2009, MDOT measured 7,642 vehicles including 138 trucks along M-86 in Centreville, the highest traffic levels along the whole highway. As the highway leaves town, it passes by the north side of Lake Templene, and Sand Lake near Nottawa before meeting M-66.