Businesses naturally spend a significant amount of resources, energy, and time to promote their brand and safeguard their trademarks. They try to develop memorable and enticing names and logos so that their target market will learn about their brand and be compelled to choose them over other companies.
However, what if you find out that another firm is utilizing your company’s trademarks and passing them off as its own? This, no doubt, will confuse your consumers and might lead them to buy the infringing company’s products. Worse, this will mess with the uniqueness and recognition of your business’s trademarks in Salt Lake City. Fortunately, the law will be on your side on this.
What Exactly is Trademark Infringement?
Trademark infringement involves the illegal use of trademarks that a company or individual owns. Let us say that you sell shirts with a registered trademark “DM” that you incorporate in all your items. Of course, your consumers are aware of your “DM” logo, so they look for it when buying shirts in stores.
But then you see another company using your logo on their shirts that are of significantly lower quality than yours. Your loyal customers might be thinking that they are purchasing your shirt when they are buying from the infringing company. This will hurt your brand reputation even if you did not sell those crappy shirts.
What to Do About Trademark Infringement
According to trademarks laws, you can sue an infringing company, recover money damages, and seek a court order to stop them using your trademarks for good. Before suing, however, try fixing the issue by sending the copycat company a cease and desist or demand letter.
This letter will notify the infringing company that you are aware of what they are doing, that they are breaking laws, and that they need to stop. Your letter must outline the specific circumstances of the infringing firm’s specific infringement practices and include your demand, which is to stop what they are doing as soon as possible, two weeks maximum.
Consider attaching copies of your trademark registration and stating that your trademark covers your “DM” logo for your shirts and other clothing items. Do not forget to attach photos of the copycat company’s infringement practices. If you have a lawyer, leave the writing and related tasks to him or her.
When the Cease and Desist Letter Doesn’t Work
In the event that the infringing company does not stop with their practices even after you send them the letter, or worse, claps back that your claim is not really valid, you have options. You can take the matter to court or simply ignore the copycat company and pray that it will not negatively impact your operations.
When you decide to sue the infringing company, you will be filing a lawsuit seeking to stop the firm from furthering their infringement and receive money damages for the trouble they have caused. You need to consult a lawyer with ample experience in trademark law, so you will know what you need to do moving forward.
