Trademark

In today’s economy, branding has become an increasingly important ingredient in helping businesses to achieve success. Many times, the trademarks used by a business to develop this brand awareness can be among its most valuable assets. Thus, particularly given the state of the modern business world, business owners should consider placing the same emphasis on identifying and protecting trademarks as they would on their business’s other valuable assets.

A trademark can be any word, name, symbol, device or combination thereof, used by a business to identify its goods or services and distinguish them from another party’s goods or services. All businesses have some trademarks that are eligible for protection, whether it is simply the name of the business, the logo used by the business, or an advertising slogan that the business uses to differentiate its products or services in the minds of its customers from those of other parties.

Because all businesses use trademarks, an important step for any business is to perform an intellectual property audit to identify those trademarks that it uses or, for a new business, to choose those trademarks that it intends to use. Once the various trademarks have been identified, a business must then assess whether its trademarks are usable and protectable. For instance, it is possible that certain identified trademarks will infringe on marks that have been registered by other parties, in which case the mark will not be protectable and the continued use of the mark may leave the business exposed to a possible infringement lawsuit. By conducting an intellectual property audit, these potential problems can be identified early and future problems and costs to the business may be avoided.

Once a business’s marks have been identified or chosen, as the case may be, it is generally advisable to have at least the most important marks registered either with the United States Patent and Trademark Office or the Virginia State Corporation Commission. Registration of the marks preserves for the business its right to continue to use the registered mark in the future and can provide a business with certain desirable remedies in the event other parties choose to use similar marks.

It is not enough, however, to simply register a mark. It is also important to implement a program to monitor the use or registration of marks that are the same or similar to a given registered mark. Only through constant diligence can infringers be identified and appropriate remedies be obtained. Failure to adequately police the use of similar marks can cause trademark protection to be effectively forfeited. In the event similar marks are discovered, a business must be prepared to challenge infringers through litigation.

Woods Rogers PLC has worked with a number of clients to choose, protect and police trademarks. Our attorneys have considerable experience in working with trademarks and are available to assist businesses with performing intellectual property audits, obtaining and reviewing trademark searches, preparing and prosecuting trademark applications, implementing trademark policing programs and representing clients in trademark infringement lawsuits.

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