Defending yourself against trademark infringement allegations requires the assistance of an experienced Miami trademark infringement attorney. Contact The Lomnitzer Firm P.A. to discuss your legal options, questions, and concerns when you are served with notice of a trademark infringement claim.
Most trademark infringement claims begin with a cease-and-desist letter that accuses you of unauthorized use of another’s trademark. These letters are often strongly worded and give you a deadline to respond. While the letter may address a legally valid case of trademark infringement or not, ignoring it is not likely to make it go away. Not addressing it could result in costly litigation that can have highly adverse consequences for you and your business.
Complaints or subpoenas concerning trademark infringement often include multiple claims, including federal trademark infringement, false designation of origin, unfair competition, and common law trademark infringement claims.
The progress of trademark infringement suits filed in Florida depends in large part on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, both of which govern civil lawsuits depending on whether they are filed in federal or state court. These rules govern the filing of pleadings, responses, and challenges to venue, as well as set guidelines for discovery, mandatory disclosures, and motions. Missing deadlines in civil lawsuits can have unwanted repercussions, including losing the chance to respond to the allegations in the complaint affirmatively, learn information about the claim, and dispose of it at an earlier point in the proceedings.
For example, you have a limited amount of time to file a formal answer to a complaint in a civil lawsuit. The purpose of an answer is to admit or deny the allegations in a complaint. Therefore, the first step in defending against a trademark infringement complaint is to file your answer.
You also may file a motion to dismiss. This type of motion asks the court to dismiss parts or all of the complaint and argues that the plaintiff has not stated a legally valid claim. While a court is unlikely to dismiss the entire complaint in a trademark infringement case, it still may dismiss some claims. Even a partial motion to dismiss can slow down the legal proceedings and increase costs for the plaintiff, so it can help create more of an incentive to settle the case.
The worst thing that you can do when receiving a trademark infringement complaint is to ignore it. Failing to respond to a trademark infringement claim can have devastating consequences. For instance, a typical first move is for the plaintiff to ask for a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing you from further using the trademark at issue.
Once the court issues a TRO, the plaintiff is likely to move for a preliminary injunction to prevent any significant harm from occurring from your allegedly unauthorized trademark use. Florida courts make this determination based on the likelihood of the claim’s success on the merits, the possibility of irreparable harm from continued usage of the mark, other equitable factors, and the public interest when deciding whether to grant this urgent relief. Once the court issues a preliminary injunction, you can spend a lot of time and resources trying to vacate it. Overcoming a preliminary injunction after a court has issued it can be challenging, so the key may be to never get to that point by responding promptly to the complaint.
You can raise several defenses to a trademark infringement claim, depending on the circumstances. For instance, you may be able to challenge the validity of the plaintiff’s trademark. You can find various grounds for this type of challenge, but the grounds available to you depend on the facts and circumstances involved in your case.
Another common defense is to challenge the reasonableness of the plaintiff’s claim that your actions in using the mark reasonably cause actual confusion in others. For example, sufficient differences may exist between two marks that confusion is unlikely. If you are using the mark to sell a good or service that is not in direct competition with the plaintiff’s business, then a claim of actual confusion likewise may be invalid. In many cases, a party may have learned about the alleged infringement from a social media post or email from a third party. If this situation occurs, you can argue that the third party knew that you were using a mark owned by another, so there is no confusion at all. The bottom line is that even if your mark is very similar to another’s mark, if no real risk of confusion exists, then a trademark infringement case must fail.
Penalties from a trademark infringement suit can include monetary damages and court orders or injunctions that prevent you from using the mark at issue in your trade or business. Various factors can affect the severity of the penalties that you may face.
During discovery, the parties exchange information about their claims. The discovery process can involve the production of thousands of pages of documents. Key witnesses are also likely to be subject to depositions, during which the attorneys interview them while under oath. Expert witnesses may also produce reports and sit for depositions to provide evidence of consumer confusion about the trademark dispute and potential damages.
A motion for summary judgment is a motion that asks the court to rule on a case without going to trial. A trademark infringement case is rarely decided on a motion for summary judgment, although it may be a way to have some claims dismissed, thus narrowing the issues for trial.
The Lomnitzer Firm P.A. can build a strong defense for you against allegations of trademark infringement. Your West Palm Beach trademark infringement lawyer is here to protect your rights, detail your responsibilities, and minimize the impact of a trademark infringement suit on your business. Contact our office today by calling (800) 853-9692 or visiting us online.
