Mark (sign)

A mark is a written or imprinted symbol used to indicate some trait of an item, for example, its ownership or maker.^[1][2] Mark usually consists of letters, numbers, words, and drawings.^[3] Inscribing marks on the manufactured items was likely a precursor of communicative writing.^[4]

Historically, the marks were used for few purposes:^[5]

• declaration of the ownership (an ownership mark, for example, livestock branding^[6]);
• identification of the manufacturer and place of origin (manufacturer's mark, maker's mark, later a factory mark);
• differentiation in order to distinguish between similar items (for example, a date mark). These marks are typically useful to distributors;^[7]
• certification of the product quality (certification mark, for example, an assay mark).

In the 17th century in the English cloth trade a new class of marks was created, now called trademarks: the cloth was required to contain both the maker's mark (initials of the maker) and the mark of the clothier, indicating the capitalist who furnished the capital for the production.^[8]

In the US commercial law, "mark" means either a trademark, a service mark, a collective mark, or certification mark.^[9] French Intellectual Property Code defines a mark as "a sign likely to be graphical representation" of the maker.^[3]