Trademarks are important for every business. Business names, logos, and symbols are important for the public to be able to identify the business and can help build and maintain goodwill in the business. Businesses want to protect their trademarks from infringement, and that might include pursuing litigation against an infringer. If a business successfully prevails…
Continue reading ›A trade mark is any word, name, symbol, or device, that is used by a person to identify and distinguish his or her goods from a competitor’s goods. 15 U.S.C.A. § 1127. Registering a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office constitutes prima facie evidence that the trademark is valid and provides constructive…
Continue reading ›Claims of false advertising are often asserted under the federal Lanham Act. In Tobinick v. Novella, 848 F.3d 935 (11th Cir. 2017), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit explained that “[t]he Lanham Act prescribes liability for false advertising to ‘commercial advertising or promotion.’” To evaluate whether a claim can be asserted…
Continue reading ›Federal law prohibits trademark infringement, which typically is enforced via the Lanham Act. The Lanham Act, at 15 U.S.C. section 1127, defines a trademark as “any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof,” which is used by a person to “identify and distinguish his or her goods…from those manufactured by others.” As the…
Continue reading ›Under federal law, trademark infringement claims mainly governed by the Lanham Act. The Lanham Act imposes civil liability on “[a]ny person who … uses in commerce any word, term, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof, or any false designation of origin, false or misleading description of fact, or false or misleading misrepresentation of…
Continue reading ›A prevalent issue in business litigation is whether a business’ unregistered name or mark qualifies for trademark protection. Under Florida’s common law, to “prevail on a common law trademark infringement claim, where the mark has not been registered, a plaintiff must show that it has trademark rights on the mark or name at issue distinctive…
Continue reading ›Trademark infringement claims are common in business litigation. If a trademark application is still pending, or where a mark was never registered at all, then it is not presume that a given mark qualifies for trademark protection under Florida or federal law. Therefore, to establish a claim of trademark infringement, a party “must show that…
Continue reading ›The Lanham Act is a federal statute that protects businesses from various types of unfair competition, including trademark infringement. In business litigation, the Lanham Act permits trademark owners to sue other businesses or individuals for violating their trademark rights. The Lanham Act provides that “[w]hen a violation of any right of the registrant of a…
Continue reading ›The Lanham Act is a federal statute that protects businesses from various types of unfair competition, including trademark infringement. In business litigation, the Lanham Act permits trademark owners to sue other businesses or individuals for violating their trademark rights. To prevail on a claim of trademark infringement, a plaintiff must show: (1) that its marks…
Continue reading ›The Lanham Act is a federal statute that protects businesses from various types of unfair competition, including trade dress infringement. The term “trade dress” is defined as “the total image of a product . . . [that] may include features such as size, shape, color or color combinations, textures, graphics, or even particular sales techniques.”…
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