governing notice by a trademark owner of the existence of a trademark, other than in the case of a licensee being allowed by an owner to use one. The use of symbols such as ™ or ® is therefore optional but advised, accompanied by a full written notice. The purpose of trademarks law Trademark law appears to be divided in two types of purposes: To protect the public so that it may be confident that, in purchasing a product bearing a particular trademark which it favorably knows, it will get the product which it asks for and wants to get. Where the owner of a trademark has spent energy, time, and money in presenting to the public the product, he is protected in his investment from its misappropriation by pirates and cheats. The Supreme Court of Canada has emasized that the tort of passing off was intended to protect the property right that plaintiffs had in the goodwill of their business. However, the protection of the public is a priority, and the Supreme Court has also said that trademark law was in fact "consumer protection legislation". Where a company has adopted a business name that is the same or very similar to that of a competitor, a key consideration is the potential for customers to become confused. Even where a Plaintiff has only used its brand name for a limited period of time and has little in the way of good will, a similarly-named competitor may confuse customers and cause the Plaintiff to lose control of its own reputation, thus justifying damages under the Trademarks Act. Courts, when interpreting the Act, try to achieve a balance between the rights of the owner and those of others. This means taking into account the public interest in free trade and expression. Trademarks and intellectual property According to the Supreme Court of the United States, trademarks are very different from patents and copyrights to the extent that they require "no fancy or imagination, no genius, no laborious thought". The Supreme Court of Canada calls them "something of an anomaly". Unlike other branches of intellectual property law, protection of trademarks does not necessarily arise from any act of creativity. Using the term "industrial property" instead of "intellectual property" may be more appropriate when referring to trademarks, which are mainly commercial devices, although the term "property" is still misleading since trademark law does not grant