add. ·- an invented or arbitrary adopted name given by a manufacturer or merchant to an article to distinguish it as produced or sold by him.
2. trade name ·add. ·- the name by which an article is called among traders, ·etc.; as, tin spirits is a common trade name in the dyeing industry for various solutions of tin salts.
3. trade name ·add. ·- the name or style under which a concern or firm does business. this name becomes a part of the good will of a business; it is not protected by the registration acts, but a qualified common-law protection against its misuse exists, analogous to that existing in the case of trade-marks.