Today the brand industry is a vital component of the entire structure of advertising and marketing which is a key feature of commercial science. Logos, slogans and images all fall within the scope of branding and are a valuable part of the goodwill of the company with which they are associated. In law, however, trademarks have been the subject of increasing controversy in recent years; this culminated in an entirely new legislative framework in the form of the Trade Marks Act 1994 (TMA). In the UK the TMA 1994 is the primary source of trade mark law. However, UK law has been strongly influenced in recent years by the development of both European Union law and international law. The TMA 1994 effectively implements the first EC Council Directive of 21 December 1988 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks. In addition to this, Regulation (EC) No. 40/941 of the Council of 20 December 1993 on the Community trade mark (OJ [1994] L11/1) laid the foundations for the "Community trade mark" system, under which an applicant can obtain a unitary trade mark covering the whole territory of the European Union through a single application to the Office for International Market Harmonization (OHIM). It is obvious that trademark law must strike a balance between various potential competitors. Traders obtain trademarks to protect their image and reputation or their goods. However, in a society based on free competition, this allows others to compete on equal terms within the same market. The rival trade hopes at least that the monopoly conferred by the granting of a trademark will be limited to rational restrictions so as not to inhibit... half the paper... based on which consumer interests are said to be intrinsically recognized, the right of brands could really benefit the consumer. This advantage is evident if we consider that if the origin function prevails over the advertising function such as the one that the courts have sought to protect, then parallel imports (goods that legitimately bear the trade mark of the trade mark owners and as such do not deceive the consumer regarding their origin) would be approved in some situations. While it may be right that some protection is afforded to the manufacturer because of its investments in product research and development, thus justifying the need for trademark laws and laws protecting products, the issue that needs to be addressed by the legislature is why this should be resolved to the detriment of consumer interests. Notably, brands protect both consumers and investors, just on a different level.