How do companies control their trademarks?

Trademark oversight is important when it comes to protecting the value of a brand. It does not matter if you have protected a slogan, a brand, a color, a product shape or even a smell, we must check it and be attentive to the events that happen around us. All we can say is that trademark owners have a duty to monitor their brand year-round and 24 hours a day so that they can protect their brand from any type of adverse event.

For businesses, companies and businesses, the value of brands that are not controlled is always in jeopardy and can cause the total loss of all brand rights.

It doesn’t matter if you are a trademark monitoring service provider or a brand owner, there are three important duties we do when considering a trademark watch and these are as follows:

• Tracking unauthorized uses of a trademark

• Monitoring of the uses of similar marks that are confused

• Monitoring of Trademark Uses by Approved Trademark Licensees

So how should companies effectively track brands? Here are some steps:

Determine the territory: Trademark rights are territorial and are generally granted from one country to another, so the first step is to know the territory to carry out brand monitoring, that is, what territory you are going to monitor for a particular brand. This will depend on where your own rights now apply and what your expansion plans are. Trademarks and trade names that we federally register are effective nationwide, while unregistered common law rights are effective in the geographic area of ​​origin. Trademark rights are also granted on a country-by-country basis, so rights in the United States have no effect outside the United States.

Develop a proactive system to learn about misuse: The second step in an overall trademark monitoring process will be to develop a proactive system for tracking misuse. Trademark issues are often easier to resolve the sooner they appear, so keeping a regular check on events is key to success in this area. Some of the important action plans that brand tracking service providers can take are:

• Searching the USPTO’s Online Database of Federal Trademark Applications and Registrations

• Search the web periodically for misuse

• Set up a Google alert for your trademark

• Follow up on customer complaints

• Get help from a professional brand tracking service provider

• Setting up various third-party online trademark theft reporting processes

Evaluate the substance: The third step in this process is to know the bottom of the misuse. Once we verify the misuse, we can proceed with the necessary steps to move forward. Is this the only step in which we get to know if the third party used goods and / or services like ours? Will the territory (geographic location) used be a problem and / or if the use has no legal concern because it is a legitimate use allowed?

Decide the actions: There are many actions that we generally take after substantiating misuse. For example, sending a cease-and-desist letter to the violator could be the first step in the event that one of the parties violates your right. If a federal application is pending, you can object to the application at the USPTO. For uses on the web, the domain name registrar may attempt to remove inappropriate or infringing content even if the owner or user refuses to do so. Misuse of a trademark on a domain name can often be resolved through simplified UDRP procedures.

Assert your rights:

This is the final and conclusive step in the general trademark monitoring process where the plaintiff files a lawsuit to enforce the rights.

Summarize: In summary, we can say that brand monitoring is a continuous and continuous process and companies must do it throughout the year to avoid misuse of their brand.