Trademark counterfeiting and infringement lead to substantial losses for businesses in California and throughout the U.S. each year. Trademark counterfeiting and infringement are especially problematic during the holidays as consumers make more purchases.
Trademark counterfeiting involves a company using an identical trademark to one that is already registered by another business to place on a product that is copied from the original. When counterfeiting occurs, the intent of the violator is to deceive the consumer who purchases the counterfeit goods. Consumers may believe that they are purchasing real products from outlet stores or from online platforms such as Amazon or eBay that are actually fake.
Trademark infringement involves companies using marks that are too similar to the registered trademarks that are held by others in an effort to sell their products. Many of these cases also involve an intent to deceive. Businesses lose billions each year because of trademark counterfeiters and infringers. Companies should police their trademarks by watching for fraudulent websites and third-party sellers on platforms like Amazon and eBay. They may leverage technology to search the internet for clusters of information so that they can uncover trademark infringers and counterfeiters.
Businesses may register their trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in order to obtain nationwide protection of them. Registering trademarks can help businesses to protect their brands. When businesses discover that others have infringed on their trademarks or have used them to sell counterfeit goods, they might want to get help from an experienced intellectual property lawyer. An attorney may help to enforce the trademark by filing an action against the company that has used the mark or one that is too similar to it. This may help the client to recover damages for the money that was lost and to secure an injunction against the defendant to prevent it from using the mark again.