Trademark Enforcement Options – FAQ

What are My Trademark Enforcement Options? Answer: Deciding on the right trademark enforcement options may seem pretty easy, but other options exist. While trademark owners are not required to sue all trademark infringers, not taking some type of action can weaken the trademark as a "source identifier" and weaken the value of the mark. Trademark Owners who fail to enforce their trademark entirely risk abandoning their rights to the mark. Deciding on your company's trademark enforcement procedure and policy can be very important. Settlement The most obvious alternative to litigation is settlement.  Settlement can be used as a trademark enforcement tool as well and is always an option. Owners of trademark and infringers may be able to agree to some form of concurrent trademark use where one party uses the trademark in one geographic area, and the other uses it somewhere else. Another option for settling a trademark dispute is for one party to license the rights to the other. Settlement agreements allow senior trademark user to...
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Benefits of a Federal Trademark Registration – FAQ

What are the benefits of a federal trademark registration? Answer: There are many benefits of a federal trademark registration, both direct and indirect.  Direct benefits are numerous and include: National protection of the mark; Ability to obtain injunctions stopping infringers; Ability to use the registration to apply for foreign trademark registrations; Greater access to the  federal court system; Assistance from the United States Custom in stopping counterfeit and infringing goods from importation; and Attorneys fees when proper notice has been attached to the goods or services. I In addition to these considerations, trademark registration provides indirect benefits in the form of being able to point to it when protecting marks used for social media accounts, protect against improper use in search engines, ability to obtain new domains in sunrise periods, and providing great leverage in UDRP and URS disputes against cyber-squatters. Why Provide these Benefits Providing these benefits serve two primary functions.  By granting these rights to trademark owners the government helps to incentivise business owners by...
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Common Law Trademarks – FAQ

Am I protected with a common law trademark - without federal registration? Q: I recently started professionally my photographs in the US.  I registered the copyright for photos and have decided on new name for my company.   I think the name is pretty distinctive and I am not aware of anyone else selling a similar product by the same name.   Do I have to register my company name as a trademark to prevent others from using it or can I rely on the laws concerning common law trademarks? A: Kenneth’s answer:  Since your mark is not registered you are limited to the common law trademark rights. Common Law Trademarks are generally limited in scope to the geographic area where the mark is known (think of a restaurant where everyone has heard of it in one town, but is unknown in another). Common law trademarks can be enforced (but not as well and as easily as registered marks) in both state and federal courts. In...
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10 Trademarks Just in Time for Halloween

10 Trademarks Just in Time for Halloween

While some folks might think trademarks can be a little scary, I know that they can also be a little fun. G&S: Processed cereal-based food to be used as a breakfast food, snack food or ingredient for making other foods.Serial (no pun intended) 85120586 and 85120583 G & S: Beer.Serial: 86110135Yes - a stumbling disheveled guy is your image for beer - why didn't this get rejected as merely descriptive? G & S: Books in the field of children's literature.Serial: 86271191Whenever I put my child to bed, I always like to talk about monsters too - keeps her quiet when I tell her how she will get eaten-up if she asks for a glass of water. G & S: Parlour games.Serial: 86222077What the heck is a Haint you ask?  Well I had to look it up too - God bless American entrepreneurship.http://www.haintinabox.com/ G&S: Magazines featuring women modeling in horror-themed pictorials for entertainment purposes.Serial: 86506372And Playboy decided to get out of the nudie business - perhaps...
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