![]() You could lose the right to expand outside the original business area if you do not register your trademark.Ħ. Registering your mark gives you the exclusive right to use it within the relevant geographic area. If you have to change your business name because you later find out that someone else is already using it, you could confuse and lose your customers.Ĥ. If you don’t register and you find out later that another company already has the same or a very similar name, you will have to redo all of your business cards, stationery, advertising, and signs.ģ. Before registering your mark, your attorney will make sure a thorough trademark search is performed to determine whether anybody else may be using the same or similar mark.Ģ. They have been widely published but worth repeating:ġ. Here are ten reasons why you want to register your trademark. A trademark must be used in commerce and failure to use it can be deemed abandonment. Also, don’t put your registered trademark away for a rainy day. Search the Internet regularly, and check your trade journals, newspapers and other publications and make sure no one is infringing it. ![]() Remember, however, if you go to the trouble and expense of registering your trademark, you must monitor it. Registration is important because it serves as evidence that you owned your mark first and provides statutory damages should you sue for infringement. If you have a trade or service mark, determine whether anybody else is using it. Also, imagine the consequences of using a trade or service mark that someone else owns – even more fodder for lawsuits. Think of the consequences of someone stealing your trade or service mark and marketing it as their own – ouch! As I have tried to convey, lawsuits are made of that stuff. When you think of a trademark you may immediately think of “Coca-Cola®”, “Kodak®”, or “Windows®” but your mark does not have to be famous to be valuable. How do you identify a trade or service mark? Easy – they are the names, images, or phrases that identify your product or service and make customers think of you when they hear or see the mark. Company 2 registered its trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) long before the lawsuit and while Company 1 had neglected to do so (a costly mistake), it retained a law firm to demand Company 2 to cease and desist using the mark “NannyPay.”Ĭlearly, trademarks and service marks are worth protecting and may be among your business’ most valuable assets. Both took steps to protect these valuable assets. Both Company 2 and Company 1 understood that the similarity between the two trademarks could confuse their customers, which would ultimately affect each company’s profitability. It filed suit seeking a declaratory judgment that its NannyPay trademark does not infringe on Company 1’s NaniPay mark.” Cyberlaw Archives.Ĭompany 1 thought it could bully the little software company into giving up its registered trademark but Company 2’s rapid response paid off and the case settled in the software company’s favor. But instead of ceasing its use, Company 2 decided to win the race to court. ![]() Company 1, the user of NaniPay, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Company 2, the user of NannyPay, saying that it must stop using the term NannyPay for its software or face a lawsuit from Company 1. “A trademark battle has erupted between the maker of NannyPay and the maker of NaniPay, two companies that offer solutions for the problem of how to pay a nanny and comply with the law. A recent article in the legal press described a trademark battle between two small companies:
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