Causes Of Legal Action For Trademark Infringement
Posted By on March 11, 2010
Trademarks are a kind of IPR that provide safety to certain terms or logos used by a firm. Their main role is to protect the customers from being misled by similar goods in the market. however, they also allow the trademark owner to sue anyone trying to counterfeit their marks for making personal profits.
The main causes of legal action for infringement under the trademark law are intentional dilution of the trademark of a famous brand or deliberate attempts to create confusion from resemblance in marks.
A trademark is considered to be diluted when an individual or firm tries to harm the distinctiveness of the trademarked goods of a famous company, which in turn might cause harm to the image of the latter firm in the eyes of the customers. For instance, if the trademark of a shoe polish manufacturer is identical or even similar to that of a well known food manufacturer, customers might think that the firm is moving away from its core product, which might affect its perceived quality.
As far as the probability of misunderstanding is concerned, it is based on the deceptive similarity of the two marks, making it hard for the customers to distinguish between the items. The said misunderstanding can be with regard to the real manufacturer, sponsor or any other crucial factor. The main reason behind such confusion is that companies are generally dealing with ordinary customers with imperfect memory of the products that they find in the market. In situations like these, any infringement of the mark can cause serious financial and reputation loss for the firm that is the original owner of that trademark.
These are not the only claims of infringement that can be brought with respect to trademarks. One such claim is where legal action is taken because another firm is marketing its products as if they were created by the owner of the trademark. Similarly, action can also be taken for unfair competition and other such allegations.
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