Prominent Texas Intellectual Property Attorney
The U.S. government and the state of Texas have strict laws regulating the ethical and legal ways businesses compete with one another relative to registered and unregistered trademark laws and trade dress infringements. A trademark is best described as any word, name, symbol, device or combination used to distinguish a product or service and its source of origination, such as a manufacturer. The law regards a product's "trade dress" as the total image and overall appearance. The federal Lanham Act prohibits business activities that infringe upon the trademarks and the trade dress of another company. The Lanham Act also ensures that companies do not overreach their trademark and trade dress protections to prevent fair competition in the marketplace.
What Is Infringement of a Trademark or Trade Dress?
The Lanham Act describes trademark infringement as any unauthorized use of a " reproduction, counterfeit, copy or colorable imitation" of another company's registered trademark in connection with commerce. Trademark and trade dress litigation for plaintiffs and defendants requires a deep understanding of complex regulations and prohibitions contained in the regulations. It also requires knowledge of case law and judges' interpretations of specific provisions of the Act.
Federal remedies for plaintiffs suing to prevent trademark infringement include:
- Injunctions against further infringement or dilution of the trademark
- Monetary relief for damages sustained by the infringement
- Damages for court and legal costs
- Damages may be trebled (tripled) if deliberate bad faith can be proven
Trademark Dilution
Some trademarks have become so nationally and internationally recognized that other companies try to imitate their appearance to create a trademark or logo with an intent to confuse buyers or dilute the value of the popular brand. Courts have ruled that closely imitating a recognized trademark or trade dress for the purposes of gaining sales off the trademark's positive position in the market is illegal. The practice is known as "diluting" the trademark. Legal arguments for the plaintiff and defense in trademark dilution litigation requires an extensive knowledge of marketing intent, trademark legislation and case law.
Remedies for trademark dilution are typically limited to injunctive relief, unless it can be shown that the defendant willfully employed deceptive trade practices in purposefully diluting the trademark.
Trust Your Success to an Experienced Houston Trademark Attorney
The Lanham Act provides several remedies for companies seeking to stop infringement on their trademarks or trade dress, as well as remedies for companies prohibited from doing legitimate business because of another firm's expansive claims of trademark or trade dress protections. Kerr, Hendershot & Cannon is one of the leading law firms in the nation representing plaintiffs and defendants in all areas of trademark litigation related to violations of the Lanham Act. The lines are often murky in trademark protection law. Whether or not your marketing activities are legal often depends on your ability to get a legal interpretation in your favor. If you are involved in a dispute over a trademark infringement, talk to an attorney on our team right away.
Our Houston trademark lawyers represent clients in federal courtrooms throughout Texas and nationally. Contact us to arrange a consultation.
