Our law firm recently had the opportunity to address the issue of whether unauthorized use of a company's trademark in a television program or film could result in a claim of trademark infringement. Based on our research, we found that when unauthorized use of a company's trademark in a film or television program is [...]
In our competitive free economy, copying and imitating business concepts and market trends in the public domain is the general rule, protected intellectual property (e.g., trademark, copyright, patent) is the exception. Copying and Imitation as Fair Competition "The Creative Commons proposed in 2010 the Public Domain Mark (PDM) as symbol to indicate that a work [...]
Trademark Unfair Competition It is basic public policy that free competition drives our economy. It follows that the "imitation" and “copying” of creative ideas and concepts is a very important part of a free market's success. Once ideas, concepts and inventions are in the public domain, they may be freely copied with limited exceptions. [...]
As our Charleston trademark attorneys have expressed throughout the trademark sections of this site, the core function of a trademark for any business is to serve as an exclusive identifier of the source of a products, good or service. One of the most important trademark benefits enjoyed by a business or entrepreneurs holding a registered [...]
A generic trademark is when the name of the mark is the actual name for that product. Examples include: STRAWBERRY for strawberries, or LAW FIRM for a law firm, or TRADEMARK ATTORNEY for a Chicago trademark attorney. A generic term is not eligible for trademark registration . The reasoning is that to allow an individual the sole ability to [...]
