Trademarks | Protect Your Business Identity

A trademark is a word, symbol, or phrase, used to identify a particular manufacturer or seller's products and distinguish them from the products of another. 15 U.S.C. § 1127. The trademark "Nike," and the Nike "swoosh," both identify the products made by Nike and distinguish them from products made by other companies (e.g. Adidas). Similarly, the trademark "Coca-Cola" distinguishes the carbonated beverage of one manufacturer from the brown-colored soda of another (e.g. Pepsi). When a mark is used to identify services (e.g. "Jiffy Lube") instead of products, they are called service marks. The law treats both types of marks similarly. 

Sometimes, Los angeles trademark attorney protection can extend beyond words, symbols, and phrases to include other aspects of a product, such as its color or its packaging. The pink color of Owens-Corning fiberglass insulation and unique shape of a Coca-Cola bottle can serve as identifying features. These features are generally called "trade dress," and may be protected if consumers associate that feature with a particular manufacturer instead of the product in general. 

Beverly hills trademark lawyer helps consumers to quickly identify the source of a given good. Instead of reading the ingredients of a can of cola, consumers can look for the Coca-Cola trademark and know instantly what is inside. Instead of asking to find out who made a particular athletic shoe, the consumers may see a swoosh and immediately know the manufacturer. Overtime, consumers begin to associate the trademark with the quality of your product and choose products bearing your mark over that of inferior marks.

Our firm assists clients in procuring trademarks on the state and federal level. In most cases, these can be done the day they are requested. We also have the investigation tools to seek out infringers and make sure that others are not violating our clients trademark rights.