A trademark is a brand that is used to describe the source or origin of goods and services and to define the quality of goods and services. Trademarks distinguish your goods and services from those of others.
“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.” How many times have we heard that? In business, unless you have it in writing, your trade secret is in no way safe. Our collaborative lawyers provide legal counsel on the potential issues that may arise from your intellectual property. We help ease our clients minds by answering questions such as:
It can take years to establish a brand in the marketplace. Are you going to stand by while an inferior product rides the coattails of your brand? Of course not. You are going to hire an experienced trademark protection attorney to fight back.The experienced intellectual property attorneys at Parsons & Goltry believe that trademarks and branding are critical components for our clients’ businesses. We will customize our complete range of IP solutions to meet your unique goals. We provide effective, knowledgeable representation for businesses and individuals in need of patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
It is sometimes impossible to protect your trademark internationally. There are a number of factors that conspire to make it easy for foreign companies to hijack your brand and dilute your trademark. If you do business internationally, you need to consult with our international trademark attorneys.
Parsons & Goltry focuses exclusively on intellectual property law, which includes international trademark and U.S. trademark law. Since 1995 our law firm has successfully represented businesses and individuals in acquiring domestic and international trademarks. Our attorneys:
A trademark is a brand that is used to describe the source or origin of goods and services and to define the quality of goods and services. Trademarks distinguish your goods and services from those of others.
There are two primary types of marks that can be registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office: (1) trademarks and (2) servicemarks. A trademark is a word, name, symbol, or device, which is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others. A servicemark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms “trademark” and “mark” are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and servicemarks.
Trademark rights can be used to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark, but cannot be used to prevent others from making the same goods or from selling the same goods or services under a clearly different mark. Trademarks which are used in interstate or foreign commerce may be registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A trademark distinguishes the products of one source from those of other sources, ensures that all products bearing the trademark come from the same source, ensures that all products bearing the trademark are of the same quality and is useful in advertising, selling and increasing product distribution. The policies of consumer protection, property rights, economic efficiency and universal concepts of justice underscore the law of trademarks.
From an economic perspective, a trademark allows a purchaser to identify products that have been satisfactory in the past and reject products that have failed to give satisfaction. Accordingly, a trademark encourages the production of quality products and reduces the possibility of customers making repeatedly bad purchasing decisions. Commerce is a function of trademarks. People throughout the world purchase what they have come to prefer, and use trademarks to locate their preferences.
Trademarks not only reflect the quality of products and services but also provide shortcuts for the consumer who can rely on marks as a substitute for testing each particular product. Therefore, trademark law is founded on your right to protect and profit from your goodwill or quality. Others may not, whether innocently or intentionally, employ trademarks that are likely to confuse or deceive customers into buying something they did not want.
Finally, everyone is free to choose any distinctive mark to identify their products and/or services provided that it is not confusingly similar to a mark used by others for similar products and/or services.
A trademark can be anything that is capable of functioning as a mark and, more particularly, anything that is capable of distinguishing your goods and services from those of others.
A trademark can be any of the following:
Getting a trademark in the United States can be acquired by (1) using a mark in commerce, or (2) filing a federal trademark registration application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
If you adopt a mark and begin using it in commerce in connection with goods or service, you have what is called a common law trademark. A common law trademark is a mark that is used in commerce but is not registered with the USPTO.
If you have chosen a mark but are not using it in commerce, you have the option of filing a federal trademark registration application with the USPTO. At the moment an application for federal registration of a trademark that is not in use in commerce is filed with the USPTO, rights to the trademark are immediately assigned to the applicant.
Whether you have a common law trademark or are considering filing a federal trademark registration application with the USPTO, it is important to understand that federal registration of a trademark with the USPTO gives an applicant significant benefits. For instance, a federally registered trademark 1) is presumed valid, 2) is presumed to be owned by the registrant, 3) can eventually become incontestable, 4) invokes the jurisdiction of federal courts, 5) can be used for obtaining trademark registrations in foreign countries, and 6) may be filed with the United States Customs Service to prevent the importation of infringing foreign goods.
Determining the availability and register ability of a trademark before using a trademark in commerce and before filing a trademark registration application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office is, in our opinion, a prudent and necessary step in the proper acquisition and eventual enforceability of a trademark. A trademark search clears potential marks for use or registration, reveals state and unregistered common law trademarks in addition to pending and registered federal trademarks, supports trademark litigation involving third-party usage and provides a meaningful determination of the potential strength of a mark.
A trademark must be used properly to identify and distinguish the products of one source from those of other sources, and to remain the exclusive property of the owner. The rights acquired by federal registration must be maintained through proper and continuous use of the trademark in commerce. On the other hand, widespread misuse of a trademark can, and normally does, make it difficult to enforce the exclusive rights to use the mark.
To protect a trademark, several important guidelines should be followed when using the trademark in advertising literature, displays and signs, product packaging, labels, business documents, and correspondence. The following are general guidelines:
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