What is a primary role of a trademark?

A primary role of a trademark is to signify a business's goods or services. Trademarks serve as distinctive identifiers that enable consumers to recognize the origin of products or services and differentiate them from those offered by other businesses. This helps in maintaining brand identity and consumer trust, as customers often associate specific trademarks with quality and reputation.

By providing this unique identifier, trademarks also help protect the business's brand from being used by others in a way that could cause confusion among consumers. This legal protection fosters fair competition by ensuring that businesses can cultivate their brand identities without fear of infringement. In contrast to the other concepts in the provided options, which relate to different forms of intellectual property or creative rights—such as ideas or author rights—trademarks are specifically tied to brand recognition concerning goods and services.