How to Defend Against Online Trademark Disputes
A trademark can help brand your company's identity, but as a part of your company's image, you will need to defend it from disputes and misuse. There is a wide potential for abuses against trademarks online and if you have learned of an infringement against your trademark you will need to act on it.
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Instructions
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Register your trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office to protect it (see Resources below). While there is common-law protection for trademarks, if disputes go to court, it is easier to defend your intellectual property if it has been registered.
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Check others' abilities to use your trademark under fair use before attempting to defend it. Others are able to use your trademark under the fair use provisions of intellectual property law. Typical fair uses are parody, news reporting and criticism.
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Send a letter asking anyone infringing on your trademark to cease and desist. If they have posted it online, you can also send a letter to their Internet service provider asking them to remove the infringing content.
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Consult a lawyer with trademark experience. An appropriate attorney may be a certified specialist in intellectual property or hold an advanced degree on the subject.
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Take disputes to a court of law if you cannot find an adequate settlement on your own or through your attorney. Because of the complexities of intellectual property law it is advised that you work with a lawyer.
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Tips & Warnings
If someone is misusing your trademark, you may be able to claim the relevance of a number of other torts, including fraud and libel (especially if it is posted online).
Many jurisdictions have laws that prevent wrongful trademark disputes, generally to prevent larger companies from intimidating smaller operations. Starting a trademark dispute without grounds can, in itself, be grounds for a lawsuit.
Trademark dilution is grounds for a dispute. Dilution occurs when a trademark for an unrelated company makes it harder to identify a clearly established trademark with a specific product or company. It is not necessary to prove a likelihood of confusion.
If your trademark is unregistered, but instead depends on common law, you may only be able to defend it in a limited geographical area.
Generic terms cannot be trademarked.
Trademark rights must be maintained by continued use of the trademark. If you have failed to use the trademark in the past five years, depending on the country you are located in, you may not be able to defend against trademark infringements.
