From this criss-cross of human activities has been woven the fabric of the law of unfair trade, which is the progenitor of the trade-mark statutes. The intent of this body of law is to give the widest possible freedom to the play of individual energy in business consistent with justice to others in trade, and to the public.
The trade-mark is the connecting link between the manufacturer and the ultimate consumer. By the use of trade-marks, widely advertised, manufacturers are able to build up a trade that becomes, to a great degree, independent of jobber, wholesaler, and retailer. In the public mind a trade-mark grows, in time, to mean a certain standard of quality, workmanship and material.
Advertised products are generally higher in quality than similar products that are not advertised. The reason is that an investment in enough advertising space to make any commodity known nationally requires a considerable outlay of money, besides a well-developed selling organization to coöperate with the advertising, and harvest its results. And this must be done continuously, and that means that the combined advertising and selling effort must be permeated with a sense of stability and permanency.
The manufacturer who is investing money in advertising, year after year, feels that he has too much at stake to endanger his possibilities by putting out inferior goods. Advertising is a systematic method of creating Good Reputation—but when Reputation is only an empty form of words, with nothing tangible behind it, the chances of its lasting are rather slight.
The manufacturer of inferior goods is not looking very far into the future. He is not trying to build permanently on the basis of reputation, but to squeeze out Right Now every cent of possible profit. The result of this attitude of mind is that he does not advertise.
Consequently it is not surprising to find that the best merchandise on any retailer's shelves consists of advertised goods, and that, moreover, concerns that advertise have the most efficient sales organizations, as well as the most enlightened relations with retailers and the public.
The best trade-mark ever devised is not worth a cent until it has become known as an identifying mark of a commodity. A trade-mark has no inherent, natural value. Whatever it is worth is the result of advertising in some form, plus the desirable qualities of the goods that it represents.
Some trade-marks are words which have a natural affinity for the language, and they slide into common speech as easily as a cupful of water melts into the ocean.