Anaheim Trademark Lawyer
Anaheim Trademark Attorneys Working with Business and Individuals Throughout the Area
Trademarks are words, logos, designs or other devices that distinguish the source of a product or a service. They are legally established by use or by registration. When a party establishes trademark rights in a trademark, they can use that trademark exclusively and prevent others from using confusingly similar trademarks. This allows businesses to develop goodwill in the marketplace by establishing a reputation for quality. Trademarks also allow consumers to be confident that the things that they purchase are coming from a certain source. Examples of well-known trademarks that you likely come across on a daily basis include Apple, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Pepsi, Honda, FedEx, Google, and Facebook.
If you have questions about trademarks, would like to establish one, or are involved in a trademark dispute, please feel free to contact us. We assist individuals and businesses in Anaheim with a variety of intellectual property issues.
Anaheim Trademark Registration Lawyers
Registering your trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office is the most effective way you can protect your legal rights in the trademark you are using or plan to use. While you may have common law rights in your trademark the moment you start to use it to engage in commercial activity, you receive significant benefits from going through the process of registering your trademark. These include:
- Registering a trademark allows you to use the ® symbol (rather than the ™ symbol used for unregistered marks). This designation can preemptively discourage people from attempting to use trademarks that may take advantage of your company’s reputation and goodwill.
- Registration of a trademark results in a presumption of validity in any litigation that may arise.
- Registration puts the rest of the country on notice that you have rights in a particular trademark.
- Registration can provide a basis for foreign trademark registration.
At Mandour & Associates, we are committed to helping our clients throughout the entire trademark registration process, from the creation of a strong trademark that will resist legal challenges to filing a trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Helping Individuals and Businesses Involved in Trademark Disputes
Trademark disputes arise when parties feel that their trademark rights are being infringed upon. A substantial number of trademark disputes are resolved without either party having to resort to trademark litigation. In some cases, the mere appearance of a trademark attorney can be enough to resolve a dispute.
Many infringers will stop their infringing conduct after receiving a cease and desist letter from a trademark attorney, especially a trademark attorney that litigates, and a significant percentage of parties who attempt to stifle competition with overzealous threats of litigation will stand down after receiving pushback from a trademark attorney intimately familiar with this area of law.
Anaheim Trademark Litigation Attorneys
In some cases, it is simply impossible to avoid resorting to litigation to resolve a trademark dispute. When this occurs, both plaintiffs and defendants must retain qualified legal counsel. If a plaintiff prevails in trademark infringement litigation, the court can order various remedies, including:
- An injunction requiring the infringer to stop sales and destroy or forfeit any infringing materials
- Money damages to compensate the plaintiff
- The infringers profits, willful damages, costs and Attorney’s fees
In the vast majority of trademark litigation, the matter at issue is whether a trademark or the goods/services are similar enough to an existing trademark that it has the potential to confuse consumers. Notably, the two trademarks do not have to be exactly the same in order for a likelihood of confusion to exist. It is often enough that they look alike, sound similar when spoken aloud, or create the same commercial impression in the minds of consumers.
Furthermore, even if the trademarks are similar to one another, a likelihood of confusion usually will not exist unless the trademarks are used to sell related goods or services. The analysis regarding relatedness is similar to the analysis regarding similarity of the trademark. The goods or services need not be identical for a court to determine that they are related—it is enough that they within the zone of expansion or are similar to the extent that consumers may mistakenly believe that they come from the same source.
These disputes are often highly technical, and courts have significant discretion in determining whether similarity or relatedness exists. For this reason, anyone involved in litigation regarding trademark infringement should consult with an experienced trademark attorney.
Contact Mandour & Associates Today
The experienced trademark attorneys at Mandour & Associates regularly provide intellectual property representation and advice to individuals and businesses in Anaheim. Whether you are trying to obtain a trademark or are involved in an infringement or litigation dispute, our lawyers are here to help. For assistance or if you have a question, please contact us.
