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Infringement of a trademark

What You Need To Know About Infringement Of A Trademark

When you copyright something, it becomes your intellectual property and it becomes your responsibility to enforce it from that point onwards. It is necessary to enforce your intellectual property if an infringement of a trademark occurs, as your intellectual property only has value if you enforce it. You must retain the ability to attract commercial value, as you could lose money significantly if you do not do so due to people using your product and brand for their own gain. In the event of an infringement of a trademark, there are a number of steps of action you can take to ensure that your intellectual property is enforced, as well as to prevent an infringement of a trademark.

The nature of an infringement of a trademark is dependent on the type of intellectual property involved, as each different type is covered by a different type of legislation. This legislation will determine the types of action that can be taken against the individual and/or entity responsible for the infringement of a trademark.

Here is what you need to know about infringement of a trademark.


Develop an infringement of a trademark strategy

Intellectual property rights are most effective when they are enforced as part of a strategy. This strategy is not necessarily a way to start legal proceedings against the individual and/or entity, but also a way to see what should be done in response to the specific situation. This is because there are sometimes situations where legal proceedings may not be the best or most appropriate course of action. A strategy should include certain elements including identification of your intellectual property through records, proactive action taken to limit an infringement of a trademark, detection methods used to ensure you can spot where something like this has taken place on the market, selective enforcement where you would choose who and what to take enforcement action against, your budget to see whether or not you can afford legal proceedings and setting clear goals based on the situation.


Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) can be used to solve disputes surrounding an infringement of a trademark rather than having to go through with legal proceedings. There are a number of different types of ADRs, these include mediation, arbitration, and expert determination.


Mediation

Mediation involves a third external party who will come and try to find a solution for the situation without having to go through with legal proceedings. This is a beneficial option, as it is much less expensive for both parties involved, there is much more confidentiality and it will be a much faster process than legal proceedings.


Arbitration

Arbitration involves submitting a dispute to an arbitrator by one or both of the parties, and a binding decision is made for the dispute. This is considered to be a much more private resolution in comparison to going to court.


Expert determination

Intellectual property lawyer looking through some papers

Expert determination involves a consensual procedure in which the parties involved submit a specific situation and matter in which experts will make a decision based on the submitted situation and matter given.

These are all methods that can be used in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and they are more preferable over legal proceedings in terms of cost, speed of resolution and confidentiality.

In summary, an infringement of a trademark is a serious thing that should be treated with professionalism. Certain steps should be taken and the best course of action should be determined through strategies set in place. An infringement of a trademark should also be limited through prevention strategies.