Trademark
Trademark Guidelines
In this contemporary digital environment trademarks are imperative for distinguishing your products and services from your competitors. The unique qualities of your trademarks become pivotal for customers searching for your business and offerings, especially through search engines. Responding promptly and decisively becomes crucial when competitors seek to leverage your trademarks for their advantage. Federal trademark registration streamlines the process of taking action against such infringements at the expense of the infringer. Fox Law Group is devoted primarily to business and Intellectual Property law. Fox Law Group operates with efficiency to shield your ideas, minimize exposure, and, if necessary, zealously defend your interests.
Trademark Clearance
Before beginning the registration process a comprehensive nationwide trademark clearance search should be performed. This search aims to ascertain whether your brand could potentially infringe on existing trademark rights held by others. The clearance search is more economical than the potential expenses incurred if you have to abandon a trademark due to a challenge from a previously undisclosed senior owner. Even in the event of litigation, a clearance search demonstrates that any infringement resulting from your usage was not willful or intentional.
Federal Registration
Federal registration of your trademark provides you with specific statutory presumptions regarding the ownership and validity of your trademark. Furthermore, in the course of litigation, your registration enhances the possibility of being awarded attorneys' fees. And five years of registration, allows you to submit an affidavit to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, establishing the incontestable status of your trademark.
Representation Before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
In cases where your trademark faces opposition from another party, you aim to challenge a registration, or your application encounters rejection, we possess the expertise to effectively represent your interests before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).
Trademark Portfolio Management and Strategy
Trademarks must be properly authorized, used and maintained. We collaborate with clients on branding strategies and management of their portfolios. As well as licensing of marks, domain name issues and dispute resolution. In addition, we also have extensive experience in international trademark law and procedures as well as the development and management of complex, multinational portfolios. We guide leading brands with opinions on the availability of proposed marks. And then help clients develop a rights acquisition and enforcement strategy consistent with their budget and business plan. In providing best practices for global trademark clearance, registration and portfolio management, monitoring and enforcement, we assist clients by developing and implementing strategies to help build brand and market identities. We coordinate with our wide network of local counsel in individual foreign countries around the world.
International Management and Counseling
Businesses need the added protections of international intellectual property registration when engaged in the global marketplace.
We have expertise in securing trademark registrations internationally, utilizing a variety of international organizations, agreements, and treaties. Many of these mechanisms enable you to submit applications in multiple countries simultaneously. For example, a single registration of a European Union Trade Mark (EUTM) can cover all of the European Union. Filing an international application under the Madrid Protocol through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), covers more than 110 different countries. The African Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), covers 19 member countries in Africa. The Andean Pact covers Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. And finally, filing in the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) covers Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
In addition, we regularly counsel clients on minimizing risks of incurring trademark liability based on their business and advertising practices in foreign jurisdictions.
Transactions and Licensing
Our firm offers strategic counsel across every phase of the trademark and business life cycle. In the realm of due diligence and corporate transactions, encompassing mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures, we formulate comprehensive programs for brand licensing and rights clearances. This involves skillful negotiation and drafting of trademark and copyright licenses, aiming to maximize the value derived from clients' intellectual property assets. Additionally, we provide assistance with other pivotal commercial contracts, such as supply and distribution agreements, that significantly influence brand value.
Litigation
We have represented both plaintiffs and defendants in litigation matters, appearing in federal and state court, as well as before the Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Our litigators are proficient in obtaining and opposing temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions with expertise and effectiveness. Moreover, we are well-equipped to handle extended litigation proceedings, including appeals. Our legal team is adept in managing Universal Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) proceedings, safeguarding clients' trademarks from infringing domain names. Additionally, we have litigated several internet matters including, social media misuses, cybersquatting, search engine keyword advertising, metatags, and various other forms of online piracy and infringement.