What You Need To Do When Your Trademark Is Violated
You know that you have the right to own property and that should never be taken away from you. A trademark is a property and when you own it, no one should take it without your permission. The sad truth is that many people infringe on trademarks in the US marketplace. You go to the store to buy something and you find that it has your trademark on it. It is a violation of rights because you can see your brand trademarks used on a product and you did not give consent. This is not something you should let go off easily, you need to report it and have it corrected. Trademark violation can happen both on physical products and online without your consent but you should not accept it. This article will help you deal with this if you are in the same situation. Here are steps to take as a victim of trademark violation.
The very first thing to do if you feel that your trademark rights have been infringed upon is learning more about your rights. You need to know the details of your rights before you can make any move. You should find all material on this and read to make sure that you know everything about it. Before you make any rash moves, confirm that your rights have been infringed and find out what you should do about it. Now that you have all the information and are sure about this, you can now take steps to have this looked into.
It is also important to consider if your trademark is active before doing anything else. If you just got your trademark and put it aside without using it, it will be hard to accuse someone if trademark infringement. You might find that someone took your trademark because they thought you don’t use it anymore. Because you have not used it in a long time, they might just assume that you won’t notice.
You should know that you will need legal advice if you are going to pursue this. When you are dealing with any kind of business issues, it is important to seek legal advice. A business or property attorney is the person you will need to help you with this case. They will help you decide which path to take on this issue of trademark infringement. Even though it will cost you a lot of money, it is going to be worth it. Your lawyer will either go for legal action or advice you to first negotiate with the other party.
You can start by sending a cease-and-desist order to the infringer. This is much cheaper than taking them to court and battling it out. You will write them a letter, asking them to stop using your trademark.