A trademark infringement warning letter is a legal notice that is issued to a person who uses someone else’s registered mark without permission or license in the due course of trade. Unauthorized access and usage of someone else’s trademarks is violation of the legal rights of the registered owner. In this blog, we will be discussing about-
- What is a Trademark Infringement warning letter?
- What does a Trademark Infringement warning letter include?
- When a Trademark infringement Warning letter gets issued?
What is a Trademark and its Infringement?
Trademark and its infringement has been explained below-
Trademark
A trade mark also popularly known as brand name in the layman’s language, which is a symbol[1] representing a company. It could be a word, a letter, a picture, label, device or a combination. It acts as a tool using which general public can differentiate between the goods and services offered to them.
Trademark Infringement
When a person who is not the registered owner of a trademark, uses the alleged mark with a mala-fide intention to create a false identity among the people with mediocre mindset in the course of trade, is called infringement. In other words, if a person uses another person’s registered trademark and claim to own it, then it is known to be a case of infringement.
A legal notice is an initial stage that leads to legal proceedings regarding the infringement of the Trademark. It is sent by the party who claims that their legal rights have been violated, to the party who has allegedly violated the rights.
What is a Trademark infringement Warning Letter?
A Trademark Infringement Notice is a legal notice that is issued to a person who uses someone else’s registered mark without permission or license in the due course of trade. Unauthorized access and usage of someone else’s trademarks is known by the violation of legal rights of the registered owner.
When a person is allegedly using someone else’s registered trademark, then only a trademark infringement warning letter is issued. The foremost condition is that, the trademark must be registered before initiating an infringement action.
Ingredients which Must be there to Initiate an Infringement Action
- The Trademark upon which the plaintiff wishes to file a suit must be either identical or deceptively similar to the registered trademark.
- The goods and the services must be specifically covered by the registration of the registered trademark.
- The use of the alleged infringing trademark must be in the course of trade.
One must make the use of the allegedly encroaching trademark as a trademark.
What all Does Trademark Infringement Warning Letter Includes?
The Trademark Infringement warning letter includes the following aspects:-
- Name, address, and other details of the person who has allegedly infringed the trademark.
- Detail of the registered Trademark or Brand Name.
- Details regarding since when the infringement has taken place
- All the facts and grievances shall be mentioned in detail with proper dates.
- Detail regarding how the registered owner is being affected
- What actions does the plaintiff require against the respondent.
- Detail regarding the previous communications must be mentioned in the legal notice.
- Legal Rights available to the owner of a registered trademark shall also be mentioned.
- A reasonable time period must be given to the respondent for the reply of the notice, that is, generally 15 days.
- The notice shall be sent by a lawyer on his letterhead, and a copy of the same shall retain as record with the lawyer or the owner of the trademark.
When is a Trademark Infringement Warning Letter issued?
A Trademark Infringement Notice is a legal notice that is issued when a person uses someone else’s registered trademark in due course of trade. Unauthorized access and usage of someone else’s trademarks is violation of the legal rights of the registered owner. When a person is allegedly using someone else’s registered trademark, then only a trademark infringement warning letter is issued.
Advantages of Issuing a Trademark Infringement Warning Letter
There are certain advantages of issuing a Trademark infringement warning letter:
- The registered owner of the trademark makes his grievances evidently clear.
- Creating awareness among the general public who are not well aware of the legal rights of a registered owner.
- It is time saving, whereas the court proceedings could be time consuming.
- By sending a trademark infringement warning letter in the matter of trademark infringement, unnecessary costs can also be saved.
- The warning letter also specifies the action that can be taken on the non-fulfilment of conditions which the infringed party demands to be met.
- It provides a chance to both the parties to resolve the matter amicably.
Conclusion
It is always recommended by attorneys to send a Infringement Warning Letter to avoid the time consuming proceedings of the court where the things may turn ugly too. To know more about issuing of Warning Letter, Contact our well-knowledged professionals at Corpbiz.
Read our article:Misconceptions Relating To Trademark Registration in India
