Trademark Infringement & Copyright Piracy Attorneys
Your brand name represents to the world who you are and is invaluable. Your original works of authorship can be among your most valuable assets. Both must be protected. Trademark infringement and copyright piracy threaten your legal rights as the rightful owner of your intellectual property.
Your brand is more than just a logo or a name – your hard-earned reputation affects your market share and profitability. Meanwhile, your original works set you apart from your competitors. When you register or prosecute a trademark or create copyrighted material, you protect your brand name and original work under the law. These intellectual property rights give you the power to stop others from using or selling knockoffs or pirated copies of your creations.
Whether someone else is violating your IP rights or you’re the one being accused of IP infringement, the experienced trademark and copyright attorneys at The Pure.Law Firm can help. We counsel clients on the best ways to safeguard and enforce their IP within the U.S. and beyond. We also help clients defend themselves against claims of IP infringement.
Our intellectual property attorneys are skilled at effectively representing clients in court, at mediation and arbitration boards, and before the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). We counsel startups as well as multinational corporations. Our attorneys bring hands-on technical knowledge to the table from industries such as manufacturing, consumer goods, software development, agriculture, technology, entertainment, media, pharmaceuticals, and more.
Contact us or call us at 313-612-2111 now to discuss your IP infringement issues.
Our trademark infringement and copyright protection services include:
- Trademark infringement litigation
- Takedown requests and cease-and desist letters
- Trademark oppositions and cancellations
- Unfair competition or trademark dilution claims
- Copyright infringement litigation
- Temporary Restraining Orders (TROs) and injunctions
- Software piracy disputes and litigation
- Licensing agreement disputes
- Alternative dispute resolution and negotiation
- Intellectual property arbitration or mediation
- Management of international IP disputes
- Contingency fee, fixed fee, and blended fee arrangements
What Can You Do if Someone Infringes on Your Trademark or Copyright?
Trademark infringement and copyright piracy are serious violations with strong legal consequences, within and outside the U.S. When someone else uses your brand name without permission or sells unauthorized pirated copies of your original works, that could devalue your reputation and affect the customer trust and goodwill you’ve built for your business.
In certain cases, IP infringement and piracy perpetrators may face criminal charges. But even without any criminal consequences, you can file a civil lawsuit to hold IP infringers liable for any losses you’ve suffered to your brand name, reputation, and bottom line. You could also file a request to exclude importation and impound infringing products through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Intellectual property disputes can get complicated, especially when large sums of money are at stake, or the infringer is crossing international borders. At The Pure.Law Firm, we help clients work with local authorities and customs offices to fight against counterfeiting operations.
While going to court is inevitable in some cases, you could avoid costly litigation by hashing out some or all your IP issues in mediation, arbitration, settlement negotiations, or another type of alternative dispute resolution. Our experienced attorneys can help you understand your options and decide the best way forward based on your goals.
Who Can Sue for Trademark Infringement?
Unlike copyrights or patents, a trademark registration is not a prerequisite to filing a trademark infringement lawsuit. Trademarks are protected by common law rights, but greater protection is available with a trademark registration. Trademark registrations can be renewed with an unlimited lifespan if the trademark is continually being used in relation to the sale of goods or services in interstate commerce. Trademark infringement lawsuits usually cover:
- Name, logo, or design misappropriation that causes a likelihood of confusion
- Trade dress infringement such as copying a unique package design for your product
- Online trademark infringement including domain names and cybersquatting
- Unfair competition or false advertising
- Rights of name, image and likeness violations
If you own the rights to a trademark, you have standing to sue for trademark infringement. But you’re not the only one. Anyone who has the exclusive or non-exclusive license to sell or distribute a trademarked product might also have standing to sue for infringement.
We can request temporary restraining orders (TROs) to stop infringers immediately and in certain instances freeze their accounts and assets. Compensatory damages in a trademark infringement case include disgorgement of the infringer’s profits obtained by selling products using your trademark. Permanent injunctions and corrective advertising damages may also be available against an infringer.
What Are the Most Common Defenses to Trademark Infringement?
If you've been accused of trademark infringement, a legal finding against you could cost you thousands or millions of dollars. The outcome of a trademark infringement case could put your entire business on the line, including the brand reputation and loyalty you’ve built up so far.
Even if you’ve been accused of trademark infringement, you can defend yourself by:
- Challenging the trademark itself – You may have established rights in your own trademark that distinguish it from the one you’re accused of infringing. Or the trademark that you’re accused of infringing isn’t valid, is no longer being used in commerce, or is too generic or descriptive to qualify for trademark protection.
- Denying that there was infringement – Even if an accuser’s trademark is valid, you aren’t infringing on it because your mark or the goods and services you are selling with your mark do not create a likelihood of confusion in customers’ minds or dilute the identity of the accuser’s brand..
The are several elements to the likelihood of confusion analysis including the intent of the party accused of using a confusingly similar mark and whether there is evidence of actual confusion in the marketplace between the competing marks. Expert witnesses can help show a lack of customer confusion through survey evidence. At The Pure.Law Firm, our experienced trademark attorneys can analyze your case and determine which defenses best support your position and how to put together the most convincing argument in your favor.
Can You Sue for Copyright Infringement or Piracy?
If you own the right to copyrighted material and someone copies it without your consent to use or sell as their own, you can sue for copyright infringement or piracy. This material could be any original works of authorship, written or created – software, art, jewelry, music, lyrics, photography, novels, etc. It is a requirement to first obtain a copyright registration before filing a copyright infringement lawsuit.
Unfortunately, copyright infringement and piracy run wild in the era of the internet. The Pure.Law Firm attorneys will help you determine what you can claim as copyright and prepare to prosecute a copyright registration with the U.S. Copyright Office. If you’re facing copyright infringement or piracy, we can help you file a lawsuit in federal district court.
We work quickly and decisively against copyright infringement, taking action as soon as we can to request temporary restraining orders (TROs) or impoundment orders for pirated works.
Contact us or call us at 313-612-2111 now to speak with our experienced attorneys.