Intellectual Property Litigation

Pursuing a claim for trademark or trade dress infringement requires a clear understanding of what constitutes a violation and the evidence required. Before anything else, your company must demonstrate that it owns a valid trademark or trade dress. This usually involves providing registration documents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). While registration is not mandatory for all trademark rights, a registered trademark can significantly bolster your claim.

Central to most trademark or trade dress infringement claims is proving that the alleged infringer’s mark is sufficiently like yours in a way that could confuse consumers about the source of goods or services. Factors considered include the similarity of the marks, the similarity of the goods/services, the marketing channels used, and evidence of actual confusion.

For trade dress (the visual appearance of a product or its packaging that signifies the source of the product to consumers), you must also prove that the design is non-functional and has acquired secondary meaning. This means that consumers have come to recognize the trade dress as specifically identifying your company as the source.

A company will also want to show how the infringement has caused harm or potential harm to your brand, reputation, or sales. This could include consumer confusion, lost sales, or dilution of your brand’s distinctiveness.

In many cases, there can be discussions involving fair use, abandonment, or differences in geographic market or product category. Given the intricacies involved, it’s important to consider consulting an attorney experienced in intellectual property law to navigate the complexities of trademark or trade dress infringement claims.

Establishing a claim for copyright infringement requires a specific set of legal elements to be shown. First, your company must show that it owns a valid copyright to the work. This can often be shown by presenting a certificate of registration from the U.S. Copyright Office. While copyright exists from the moment a work is created, registration is a prerequisite to filing an infringement lawsuit in federal court. If you do not have a trademark or a copyright filed with the U.S. Copyright Office or USPTO, then your company will have to prove that the infringement of the work was regarding something your company used during business and in the stream of commerce.

Additionally, your company must prove that the alleged infringer copied your work. This can sometimes be direct evidence, such as photographs of the infringing process or testimonies. For example, the infringer’s work may be substantially like your copyrighted material. it is not enough just to show similarities; the similarities must relate to the protectable elements of your work. For instance, if the similarities are based on generic themes or ideas (which aren’t protectable), that might not constitute infringement. The focus is on whether the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves, are similar.

While proving infringement establishes legal liability, your company will also need to show the harm suffered due to the infringement to claim damages. This might be in the form of lost sales, reputational harm, or other negative impacts attributable to the infringement.

It is always important to remember that copyright law has various exceptions and defenses, such as “fair use,” which allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission for purposes like criticism, commentary, or education. Given the nuances and complexities, consulting a specialized intellectual property litigation attorney at Hone Law can help your company navigate a copyright infringement claim effectively.

Asserting a patent infringement claim requires a clear presentation of specific legal elements to establish unauthorized use of a patented invention. If your company believes its patented work has been improperly used, you must first show that your company owns a valid patent for that invention. This typically involves presenting a patent certificate from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent must be active, meaning it hasn’t expired or been invalidated.

Your company will also need to show that the alleged infringer made, used, sold, offered to sell, or imported an invention that your patent covers without your permission.

A critical aspect of patent infringement litigation is the “claim charting” or “claim matching” process. Here, each claim of your patent is meticulously compared with the alleged infringing product or process. The goal is to show that every element of at least one of your patent’s claims is present in the defendant’s product or method.

Finally, your company will need to demonstrate the financial harm or potential harm it suffered (damages) because of the unauthorized use of its patent. This might involve lost profits, reasonable royalty rates, or any dilution of the invention’s market value.

Potential defenses to patent infringement claims can include asserting the patent’s invalidity, non-infringement (the product or process does not actually infringe any patent claims), or the existence of a license. Given the intricate technical and legal aspects of patent infringement claims, consulting an intellectual property litigation attorney at Hone Law can help you understand all your legal options.