Pasadena Trademark Lawyer
Mandour & Associates, APC assists businesses and individuals in Pasadena with trademark registration, trademark infringement, and trademark litigation issues.
Trademarks allow consumers to identify the source of goods and services and also allow businesses to develop reputations for providing high-quality goods and services. For this reason, trademark law recognizes that businesses can have property interests in particular trademarks and allows trademark holders to prevent others from using trademarks that could cause a likelihood of confusion.
Some examples of famous trademarks that you probably come across on a daily basis include Coca-Cola, NBC, Microsoft, Facebook, Google, and McDonald’s. Trademarks can encompass a wide variety of identifying characteristics, including the way products are packaged, colors associated with certain brands, jingles, or smells.
Pasadena Trademark Registration Lawyers
While certain common law protections come from using a trademark during course of business, formally registering a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) offers several benefits. When you see a trademark accompanied by “™,” the trademark holder has common law trademark protection. On the other hand, the “®” symbol indicates that the trademark owner registered it with the USPTO or in another country. Benefits of registering a trademark include:
• It puts others on notice that you own the trademark, potentially avoiding the need for future legal action
• National trademark protection
• A presumption that your trademark is valid and that you own it
• It can serve as the basis for international trademark registration
The lawyers of Mandour & Associates will assist with your trademark registration along every step of the way, from conducting a search to filing a trademark application with the USPTO.
Trademark Infringement or Litigation in Pasadena
Our lawyers are skilled litigators who are qualified to represent individuals and businesses with issues related to trademark litigation in Pasadena and the surrounding area.
In many cases, parties resolve trademark disputes without going to court—perhaps through the issuance of cease and desist letters or negotiated settlements. When the infringement issue cannot be resolved informally, we are prepared to litigate the matter on your behalf.
In most trademark litigation, the main issue that requires analysis is how similar the trademarks are to one another and the likelihood that the trademarks will confuse consumers. However, trademarks need not need be identical to create a likelihood of confusion—it is often sufficient that they are visually similar, sound alike, or leave the same commercial impression in the mind of the general public.
In addition, even if trademarks are similar, a court will only find a likelihood of confusion in cases where related goods or services are sold or if the products or services were within the zone of expansion of each other. Again, the goods and services at issue do not need to be identical—it is sufficient that they are similar enough that the public could mistakenly believe that they came from the same source.
Not all trademark disputes end up in court. We often find that a single cease and desist letter can resolve a dispute. In some cases, trademark infringers have no intention to infringe and readily change their practices and materials when presented with cease and desist letters. At other times an infringer has no desire to pay for an attorney and readily ceases the use.
Contact Mandour & Associates Today
If you or your business are seeking trademark protection or are involved in a dispute regarding an existing trademark in Pasadena, please feel free to contact us at any time.
