Content Rights for Creative Professionals, 2nd Edition

Chapter 12

Strategy for Acquiring Trademark Rights: A “How-to” for Branding

 

Trademark law has the goal of protecting two interests: those of the investor, who spends resources to create words or symbols identifying the business as a source, and those of the consumer, who relies on a mark as a symbol of quality and an association with a known source. Unlike copyright law, which secures protection only against copying, trademark law grants a monopoly to use a word or symbol in commerce. In other words, trademark law provides that, even if a second user is unaware of the original use, it may be forced to stop an infringing use.

As already noted, the nature of the rights secured by a trademark depend on a number of factors. Sometimes, the trademark ...