Trademark Law
If you own and operate a business, you have a brand, and the attorneys at Umberger Wells, P.A. are equipped with the knowledge of trademark law to help you protect that brand. So what is your business’s brand? The word “brand” is not a legal term, but if you use a particular name or logo in commerce in connection with the sale of goods or provision of services, you likely have trademark rights in such name or logo. That is, unless someone else starting using the name or logo in your line of business first!
But what is the nature and scope of those rights? Well, it depends. You can acquire what are called “common law” trademark rights automatically by virtue of simply using a name or logo (a “mark”) in commerce in connection with the sale of your goods/services. However, the geographic scope of common law rights is limited to the places where you’ve actually made sales and such rights are difficult to enforce in court.
The better approach is to make use of state and or federal statutory trademark law and register your mark. If your application for registration passes muster, you’ll get statewide – and even nationwide – protection for your mark and will be entitled to a presumption in court that you have enforceable rights vis-a-vis the mark. Such protection operates as both a sword and shield: the “sword” allows you to sue infringers who may try to ride the coattails of your brand’s hard-earned reputation; the “shield” protects against squatters who know darn well that you were using the mark first and try to usurp your legal rights by winning the so-called race to register.
The best approach isn’t to just register your mark, but to make sure, before you start using a name or logo, that someone else doesn’t already have rights to such mark. At Umberger Wells, P.A. we handle all aspects of the trademark process from evaluation to registration and if necessary, litigation. If you want to license your brand to another business or sell your brand entirely, we draft and negotiate licensing and assignment agreements on behalf of clients as well. So don’t waste your time and money on a trademark application that is sure to be denied and don’t unwittingly infringe upon the rights of another. Protect your brand and contact Umberger Wells, P.A. today.
If you would like assistance in relation to a trademark, please contact our trademark attorney, Michael Umberger at (704) 375-1800 or email him at mumberger@jwellslaw.com