Trademark infringement, or basically any type of breach, gives you the right to file a complaint. If the specified trademark or intellectual property at hand is rightfully yours, then what should stop you from suing people or organizations that take credit and earn profit from your own hard work?
But, before anything else, and before knowing which factors to consider upon filing trademark infringement complaints, here’s everything you need to know about intellectual properties, such as trademarks:
What is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property or IP refers to any work or creation produced by the human intellect. In other words, IPs are a product of an individual’s creativity; hence, it’s significance in almost all aspects of life today.
Nowadays, businesses consider intellectual properties as a significant asset. Though intangible, IPs are believed and proven to guarantee greater success and higher profit than any other tangible asset can, which is why companies tend to do whatever it takes just to protect an IP.
There are different types of intellectual properties existing today. Three of which are copyright, patent, and trademark. But, in this article, we will be focusing more on trademarks.
What are Trademarks?
Trademarks are rights or protection granted on a word, group of words, logos, symbols, taglines, or slogans, all of which help distinguish or identify a specific brand or business. Trademarks usually have this small ™ logo by the end of each logo or tagline. This simply means that a claimed trademark is legitimately granted protection by the law. Meanwhile, the ® signifies that a particular brand is registered as authentic, and no other “trademark” that claims to be like it will be granted rights or protection unless stated or proven otherwise.
Now that you know what intellectual property and trademarks are, it’s time to go further into detail and discuss the different factors to consider before filing a trademark infringement complaint.
Facts
Before anything else, make sure you gather facts that will suffice in supporting your claims of someone allegedly infringing on your specific trademark. Such facts shall include timelines so as to indicate how long the other party has been using the exact same brand that you possess. These facts or evidence can help strengthen your claim that other parties are indeed stealing, taking advantage, and making money out of your intellectual property.
Decision-Making
When filing a complaint, make sure you know which specific complaints or lawsuits to file. Are you filing for trademark infringement or trademark dilution?
Trademark infringement refers to any brand, mark, logo, or tagline happening to be confusingly similar in regards to products and services identical to products and services used by another brand. In short, you may file for trademark infringement when you notice another brand or company copying your claimed trademark.
Meanwhile, trademark dilution occurs when an exact same trademark or brand is used in a way which lessens the uniqueness and credibility of the original brand.
So, as for you, which ones do you think fit your situation? This part is crucial as it can determine whether or not you’ll win the case, considering that you have enough evidence, but lack of knowledge about which is which.
Civil Complaint
Drafting a civil complaint is essential since this can help compensate you the way you want to be compensated, for as long as your complaint and requests are in line with all the local and federal court rules. In your civil complaint draft, you can state and outline all facts regarding the trademark dispute, how and when you’ve been harmed, how other parties are infringing or diluting your brand, and what remedies you think are applicable to recompense you or your company.
Wrapping Up
More than anything, it’s important to hire experienced professionals such as Philippine trademark attorneys to help you win your case. Out of all factors, this should be your topmost priority as an attorney can provide insights about your brand and its case.
If you think your trademark or brand has been infringed or diluted, do take immediate action before things start getting out of hand.