Service Marks: What, Why and How (Part B)

The battle does not end once you have acquired the rights to a service mark. Whether you have established your mark through government registration or public use, there is always the possibility of service mark infringement.

Service Mark Infringement

Once your service mark has been registered with the USPTO you have all rights to the mark and other similar businesses are strictly forbidden to use it or create a mark that is deceptively similar to yours.

This law was created to protect your interests as a service provider as well as the public interest of consumers in the free market. Service marks are created to make the specific services of an established business more readily recognizable. Extremely similar service marks in the same market could be considered deceptive to the public.

A company is guilty of service mark infringement if:

• The service mark is deceptively similar to another service mark;
• The two companies are in the same service industry; and
• The two companies are within the same geographic location.

However, the court may allow similar service marks if the companies in question are involved in different service markets or are located in vastly different geographical locations. For instance, if a similar service mark was being used for a cleaning service and an entertainment service, the court may allow this to continue.

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