Imagine that you have come up with a creative and clever name for your product. You are excited to use the name, and make it known in the marketplace. You foresee the name growing and becoming well-recognized. You spend much time and money marketing your brand on all your products, advertisements, and places of business (both physical establishments and virtual e-commerce sites).
After several months, you receive a letter from a competitor who claims that you are infringing one of their registered trademarks. The letter stipulates that you must remove all your products and pay for damages incurred. Apparently, the competitor has almost the same name for the same product. You rack your brain thinking about how you are going to deal with this.
Then you wake up from your dream, and thank God that you chose FlashPoint IP, from a host of intellectual property firms, to perform a complete trademark search for the desired name prior to initiating your marketing efforts, and followed FPIP’s suggestions to avoid such issues arising in the first place.
Joking aside, trademark protection can seem like an afterthought to some (neglecting a clearance search altogether), but as with any other form of intellectual property, the more attentive one is to the dimensions of the application process and the stakes involved, the more likely one is able to build sustainable IP value into their IP strategy. A mark of distinction needs to be skillfully created to serve as a protected cornerstone of your company’s image.
Even in situations like the one described above, we counsel our clients on the options they have for effectively dealing with the matter at hand. Is the competitor’s registration still in force? Is the competitor actively using the mark in all the trademark classes that the mark is registered? Does your product or service fall under the same class as the registered mark?
Beyond this, issues arise frequently with cybersquatting. Unscrupulous speculators are constantly scouring the Internet to take a gamble on which domain names to register with the hope of a lucrative “hold up” scenario to cash in on payday – when your activities are just beginning to move into high gear. FPIP’s approach relies on using discretion to achieve the client’s goals in such matters.
Trademark registration needs a business roadmap to decide on locale, filing strategy, timeframes, and budget constraints. FlashPoint IP is a leader among intellectual property firms. Our attorneys are adept at synthesizing the many facets needed to create a winning formula for your IP. Contact us to discuss your options regarding IP strategy and positioning, and how best to secure your rights. On Your Mark, Get Clearance, Go!
