Protecting Your Company's Intellectual Property: A Practical Guide to Trademarks, Copyrights, Patents & Trade Secrets

Infringement Actions

Once it is determined that another mark may be confusingly similar, a trademark owner should take aggressive action. Failure to take steps to protect a mark can be held to constitute a waiver of any rights in the mark. If a mark is federally registered, the U.S. Trademark Act allows the registrant to initiate a civil action in federal court against any party who used the mark without the registrant's consent in a manner likely to cause confusion. Prospective plaintiffs generally send a notice or letter called a cease and desist letter to the party who uses the allegedly infringing mark. The letter usually describes the first party's mark, states that the second party's mark is junior in time to the first mark, and demands ...