You put a lot of work into your ideas, and it’s important that you protect them. That’s likely why you’ve taken the time to trademark the name, logo, or other identifying attributes of your brand or company.
This kind of protection ensures that someone out there can’t profit from piggybacking on your hard work. It also means someone out there can’t dilute or ruin the reputation of your brand without you knowing it.
If you’ve found evidence of a trademark violation somewhere, what should you do?
Table of Contents
Read on, and we’ll walk you through the proper steps you should take
Send A Cease-and-Desist
The first thing you should do when you find evidence that someone has violated your trademark is to get into contact with that person or entity.
Filing a lawsuit can be lengthy and expensive, and it likely makes more sense to first reach out and threaten legal action. This might resolve the issue outright without you having to take all the other steps.
A cease-and-desist letter is a simple correspondence that explains the infringement you believe is occurring. The letter should also indicate that the infringer has a small window of time, such as two weeks, to cease the use of your trademark in any fashion.
In most cases, you will find that a cease-and-desist letter can be enough to get the job done. Even if the letter is ignored, you can now use it as evidence in your continuing case.
Find an Attorney
If the trademark infringer refuses to make contact or refuses to cease their use of your trademark, you need to take legal action. In order to do so efficiently, you’ll need to hire a legal professional.
There are a lot of different trademark attorneys out there, and you need to ensure you hire the right one for your case. Some do things like Respond to a Trademark Office Action, while others will be more equipped to help on the infringement side of the equation.
An attorney can help you draw up the files and decide what kind of claim to bring against the infringer. There are various potential claims that you can bring forward, and an experienced attorney will know better, which might work to your particular advantage.
Check for Active Use
You should be reminded that in order to sue for trademark infringement, you need to be actively using the trademarked information you seek to protect.
The product or service the trademark you are using corresponds with must be actively being sold (or attempting to be sold) in the marketplace. If a plaintiff can’t show evidence that the trademark is in active use, they won’t be able to win their infringement case.
Issues of Trademark Violation
If you believe there is a threat of a trademark violation against your work, it’s important to take quick and immediate action. The above information will walk you through what you need to do.
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