How the Courts Protect Trademarks (Part A)

When you register a trademark in the United States, you will have the federal protection necessary to ensure your property rights. Furthermore, you can register your trademark internationally, which will protect your trademark in 168 countries, including the United States. To register a trademark, submit a simple form via the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

You may have difficulty when registering a trademark, particularly if there is already a trademark similar to yours. To avoid this problem, you should conduct a thorough search of trademarks that are already in existence. To do so, you can get the help of a New York trademark lawyer.

Protecting a Trademark

Once your trademark is federally registered, it will be protected so that you can keep others from using it for their own business purposes.

Once registered, the trademark will be protected from:

• being used on competing goods or services;
• being confused with a similar mark; and
• being used on non-competing goods in any part of the United States.

When protecting a trademark, you may go to court to prevent it from being used, even if its use can in no way be confused with your own use. For instance, if someone were to start marketing "Coke" cigarettes, Coca-Cola, the soft-drink company, could force the cigarette maker to stop infringing on their registered mark. In trademark terms, this is known as federal dilution law.

When protecting a trademark, you must show that your trademark is actively in use. "Use" means that it is being used to identify goods or services. If you have questions regarding trademark protection, or if you need help protecting a trademark, you can contact a New York trademark lawyer.

A trademark belongs to you, just as with any piece of your property. Protecting the integrity of your intellectual properties is crucial for an entrepreneur, which is why a New York trademark lawyer should be contacted when you are in need of assistance protecting a trademark.

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