A 'trade-mark' is a mark used to indicate the maker, owner or seller of an article of merchandise, and includes, among other things, any name of a person, or corporation, or any letter, word, device, emblem, figure, seal, stamp, diagram, brand, wrapper, ticket, stopper, label, or other mark, lawfully adopted by him, and usually affixed to an article of merchandise to denote that the same was imported, manufactured, produced, sold, compounded, bottled, packed or otherwise prepared by him; and also a signature or mark, used or commonly placed by a painter, sculptor or other artist, upon a painting, drawing, engraving, statue or other work of art, to indicate that the same was designed or executed by him.
New York Legal Code