Trade Mark Rights
Trademarks are one of the three main intellectual property protection devices (the other two are copyrights and patents). Trademarks protect words, symbols, and phrases that are used to distinguish a particular product from those of competitors. Trademarks are designed to protect the goodwill of a business. In other words, the financial value of the reputation of the product. More fundamentally, they are designed to avoid consumer confusion among similar products.
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Eligibility Requirements
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In order for a mark to be eligible for trademark protection, it must be distinctive. A mark that actually describes the product it represents (Coca-Cola, for example) is held to a higher standard of descriptiveness in order to avoid confusion; it must have acquired a "secondary meaning" in the eyes of the public before it is entitled to protection, which may take some time. A simple generic word such as "cola" is not entitled to trademark protection without some distinctive variation, which is why "Apple" is an acceptable trademark when applied to computers, but not when applied to apples.
Acquiring Trademark Rights
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There are two ways to obtain trademark rights: either be the first party to actually use the mark in commerce (subject to the "secondary meaning" described above), or register it with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark protection only applies to the geographic area in which the merchant's reputation is established (Coca-Cola, for example, is entitled to worldwide protection under the trademark laws of most jurisdictions, but "Bob's Cleaners" may be entitled only to local protection). Trademark protection also extends only to the particular product to which it is affixed or associated.
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Trademark Registration
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Trademark registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is available online (see Resources below). Trademark registration, although not absolutely required for trademark protection, will allow you to bring a lawsuit in federal court, will entitle you to additional remedies, and will allow your trademark to become "incontestable" after 5 years (which renders your trademark rights nearly impossible to challenge in court).
Forfeiture
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You can forfeit your trademark rights if you stop using it with an intent not to resume use. After three years of non-use, you will bear the burden of proof that you intend to resume use of it. You can also forfeit trademark rights by licensing them to others without quality control or supervision, or without the corresponding sale of trademarked goods. Finally, if your trademark becomes so associated with a particular product that it no longer identifies a specific brand, its trademark will be canceled. (This is what happened to the former trademark "aspirin", and what could someday happen to "Band-Aids.") Courts even look to dictionaries to see if the trademarked word is defined as a product instead of a particular brand.
Infringement
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A trademark has been infringed if a "likelihood of confusion" as to the source of the trademarked goods in the minds of consumers arises from its use by someone else. The use of "IBM Cola", for example, probably would not infringe IBM's trademark, although "IBM Computer Repair" probably would. Possible infringement remedies include injunctions, damages, disgorgement of defendant's profits, court costs (including legal fees), and triple damages (for registered trademarks litigated in federal court only).
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