It’s been a few years since I dug through trademark law trying to find an answer to this question, but from my understanding, as long as the trademark isn’t abandoned, doesn’t become genericized, and is renewed, it doesn’t have to be strictly enforced through litigation.
You only really need to enforce your trademark when there’s a chance of it causing confusion about whether goods produced by some other party are actually produced by the trademark holder (which is the scenario your quote is talking about). Take “Apple,” for example. I can’t sell any software or electronics with the name “Apple” on it without infringing on Apple, Inc.'s trademark, but I can sell “Farmer Tim’s Golden Delicious Apples” without issue. If Apple tried to enforce their trademark on a box of apples, they wouldn’t be successful. If they tried to enforce their trademark on Tim Apple’s iJuicer Pro, they probably would succeed.
Anyway, I think a lot of the confusion about this comes from trademark law being oversimplified into the phrase “use it or lose it.” That’s strictly true when it comes to actually using the trademark, but it’s not actually a requirement to liberally enforce it.
That might be true regardless of copyright law :)
A sad truth. You don’t need to win when you can bury your opposition in legal costs (or threats of).
I’m sure it violates other professional conduct rules, but at the very least, intentionally misleading a client or omitting information would likely be considered a lack of competence.
A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client. Competent representation requires the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation.
Thanks for your reply. I’m inclined to believe you, as it seems more likely that this was a case of corporate bullshit and not a case of “alas, our hands are tied”.
It’s been a few years since I dug through trademark law trying to find an answer to this question, but from my understanding, as long as the trademark isn’t abandoned, doesn’t become genericized, and is renewed, it doesn’t have to be strictly enforced through litigation.
You only really need to enforce your trademark when there’s a chance of it causing confusion about whether goods produced by some other party are actually produced by the trademark holder (which is the scenario your quote is talking about). Take “Apple,” for example. I can’t sell any software or electronics with the name “Apple” on it without infringing on Apple, Inc.'s trademark, but I can sell “Farmer Tim’s Golden Delicious Apples” without issue. If Apple tried to enforce their trademark on a box of apples, they wouldn’t be successful. If they tried to enforce their trademark on Tim Apple’s iJuicer Pro, they probably would succeed.
Anyway, I think a lot of the confusion about this comes from trademark law being oversimplified into the phrase “use it or lose it.” That’s strictly true when it comes to actually using the trademark, but it’s not actually a requirement to liberally enforce it.
A sad truth. You don’t need to win when you can bury your opposition in legal costs (or threats of).
I just had a thought: is it legal for lawyers to say half-truths to get clients to use them more and thus earn more money?
That’s how you get disbarred for misconduct.
I’m sure it violates other professional conduct rules, but at the very least, intentionally misleading a client or omitting information would likely be considered a lack of competence.
Thanks for your reply. I’m inclined to believe you, as it seems more likely that this was a case of corporate bullshit and not a case of “alas, our hands are tied”.