Trademark
We’ll help you leave your mark on the world.
Brands communicate reputation and quality and distinguish companies, products, and services from their rivals. The trademark attorneys at Howard & Howard understand the power and market advantage inherent in every brand, and we offer clients an array of trademark and trade dress protection & litigation services to protect those assets, minimize the risk of infringement, reduce maintenance costs, and increase the value and strength of an overall intellectual property portfolio.
Trademark Litigation - Industries Served
With support from our established global network of resources and partners in Asia, Europe, and elsewhere, we counsel clients on timely and cost-effective brand services including trademark and service mark availability, clearance, protection, prosecution, licensing, renewal, maintenance, and, if necessary, litigation. Our attorneys will craft a trademark strategy tailored to clients’ specific needs as well as the domestic and international industries in which they compete:
- Automotive
- Gaming
- Sports and entertainment
- Hotels, restaurants, and hospitality
- Consumer products
- Fashion and apparel
- Beauty products
- Healthcare
- Banking and financial
Trademark Registration, Protection, & Management
Our trademark lawyers design and implement programs to register clients’ marks with the USPTO and its foreign counterparts in conjunction with manufacturing deadlines, sales and marketing launches, and economic factors—with an eye toward strengthening a client’s position in any future litigation. Clients also look to our trademark protection team to develop brand strategies that encourage proper trademark use by employees, vendors, licensees, channel partners, and the media, and we help monitor and police trademark licenses to ensure compliance.
When challenges to a client’s application or registration occur, or when confusion between trademarks arise, we appear before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and engage counsel in foreign offices to defend their marks and oppose or petition to cancel third-party applications and registrations. When negotiation and administrative remedies fail to resolve disputes, Howard & Howard's trademark litigation team engages in aggressive advocacy to enforce and defend our clients’ interests.
We pursue equitable remedies such as temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, and permanent injunctions in the federal and state courts, as well as before foreign tribunals regarding:
- Infringement
- Counterfeiting
- Dilution
- False advertising
- Unfair competition
- Rights of publicity
- First Amendment rights
Trademark Litigation Services & Processes
Our trademark attorneys diligently advise clients on the most effective ways to develop and protect their brands. In today’s high-tech world, trademark use has become increasingly prevalent in cyberspace. Howard & Howard assists clients in this sector by:
- Shutting down and/or transferring domain names that are confusingly similar to clients’ brands
- Halting illicit and deceptive cybersquatting, typosquatting, and meta-tagging practices
- Obtaining injunctions to stop infringement occurring on specific webpages
- Combatting infringement in federal court, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) arbitrations, Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) proceedings, and International Trade Commission (ITC) investigations
Howard & Howard's trademark lawyers vigorously work to end the manufacture, sale, and distribution of unauthorized products around the world. Our attorneys have long-standing relationships with counsel across the globe, including China, who can efficiently end counterfeiting activities by directing intensive investigations and coordinating with local law enforcement, customs services, finance and revenue departments, postal services, and government officials. In relation to these anti-counterfeiting measures already in place, we have specific experience in obtaining orders for the seizure of counterfeit goods displayed by infringers at major U.S. tradeshows in Las Vegas, Nevada, and throughout the country.
For many businesses and nonprofits, brands are more than mere names and symbols—they are reputational promises that may have taken years to establish in the marketplace. We understand the tangible and intangible value behind your trademarks, service marks, and trade dress, and fight to preserve and promote their worth.