Have you lived this conversation? Whether you're a creative or a trademark attorney, there really is common ground. It's all about the brand.

First Came the Brand (Or Was It the Trademark?)
A brand is about perceptions, experiences, and aspirations – the consumer’s perceptions and experiences and a company’s aspirations to guide those perceptions and experiences. The trappings of a brand are the words, logos, and even colors, that identify goods and services as coming from a particular company.  These are the company’s trademarks and service marks. 

Trademarks and service marks (collectively, "trademarks" or "marks") serve as a kind of emotional shorthand.  They connect consumers to the company’s vision. They’re the promise of quality and service. A company’s marks create an expectation that when a consumer purchases the goods or services associated with the marks, she’s getting the embodiment of the company’s core competencies and the value-add that comes from those competencies.

Brand recognition comes from innovation, from marketing and public relations, and from careful use of a company’s trademarks.  Branding and trademark rights share the same three watch words: repetition, consistency, and continuous use.  This is because branding and trademark law share the same focus: the associations created in the mind of a consumer.