New Orleans, Louisiana Trademark Lawyer

In the marketplace, businesses revolve around their brand. If you fail to protect your trademark or allow it to be used by someone else without permission, your trademark will lose its value to your business. Registration of trademarks is more important now than ever, as trademark registration rights are required to remove infringements on social media, online retail sites, domains, and scam sites. Lemler IP understands how new technologies affect branding strategies, such new technologies include social media, contextual advertising, and affiliate network advertising. Contact a New Orleans trademark lawyer from Lemler IP today to schedule your initial consultation..

Why Hire a New Orleans Trademark Lawyer?

Lemler IP assists clients with a full range of trademark services, including trademark searching and selection; preparation, filing, and prosecution of trademark applications; and maintaining trademark registrations. The practice has substantial experience managing clients’ trademark portfolios through years of experience. Lemler IP has significant expertise in drafting and negotiating trademark license agreements and trademark coexistence agreements.

If you believe that your mark is being used, either without permission or without payment of agreed-upon fees you should speak with an attorney experienced in trademark litigation as soon as possible. A competent Orleans Parish, Louisiana intellectual property lawyer from Lemler IP can send cease-and-desist letters and if the unlawful use does not stop, you may need to consider taking additional action.

Lemler IP’s Trademark Counseling and Prosecution Services

Just some of the various trademark-related services Lemler IP provides for clients are as follows:

• Trademark clearance and screening searches and opinions
• Comprehensive brand counseling
• Trademark selection
• Filing and prosecuting trademark applications
• Post-registration maintenance of trademark registrations
• Trademark licensing strategy, negotiations, and drafting
• Oppositions, Cancellation proceedings, Ex Parte Appeals, and Concurrent Use proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal
• Board (TTAB) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
• Negotiating co-existence and concurrent use agreements
• Domain name strategy, registration, enforcement, and shutdowns
• Enforcement on social media sites and online retailers such as Amazon
• Representing clients in the resolution of trademark disputes
• Assisting clients with disputes involving domain names, including proceedings under the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute
• Resolution Policy (UDRP) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

The Trademark Process

Filing Your Trademark

Lemler IP works to ensure that you are not wasting your time and money trying to file a trademark that will be denied. Lemler IP will conduct a thorough search of previous trademarks to be sure that your trademark is not infringing on another and that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will be satisfied with issuing the protection. Once your lawyer verifies the uniqueness of the trademark, he will file the application and wait about six months for the office to start the examination.

USPTO Assessment of Your Trademark

Because of the deluge of activity at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, it takes them some time to start the process of examination. An examining attorney at the USPTO will take great care in scrutinizing your trademark application. The attorney will then share his or her opinion on the application through an “office action”, or by conversing with your trademark lawyer. Many times, trademark protection is allowed and issued. There are certain situations where they will pass with a few changes. There are some rare occurrences where the application is rejected. The most common rejections are that a trademark is only allowed on the supplemental register or that it is likely to confuse the marketplace because of an already existing mark. If there are any issues with the application, you will have up to six months to provide a response.

Publication for Opposition

Lemler IP will work to avoid any delay. Assuming that your application has been approved, the examining attorney will publish your trademark in the official gazette for opposition. Once published, anyone who opposes your trademark will have 30 days to speak up. The opposition has the right to extend the process up to a total of 90 days, allowing for negotiations. Opposition is rare during this period, as the attorney and the examiner attorney have already conducted due diligence when searching for conflicts. Another rare occurrence is a formal complaint with the Trademark Trials and Appeals Board. Lemler IP will tirelessly represent your interests if these obstacles arise.

The Notice of Allowance

Barring any delays from the opposition, a formal Notice of Allowance will be issued by the U.S.P.T.O. This is the time when you will have to file a “Statement of Use” if you have not already done so. The final trademark certificate takes a few weeks to arrive from the notice of allowance. From here, you are able to hold infringers accountable for their actions and sue them to stop or collect damages.

Maintaining Your Trademark

The government has a policy of “use it or lose it” regarding trademarks. You have to continue to tell the government that you are still using and will use the trademark for commercial purposes. By the 5-year mark of the issuance of the certificate, your trademark takes on a definition of its own. Simply, what your trademark means to the public and your company. At this time, your lawyer will file an affidavit of continued use and an affidavit of incontestability. Lemler IP takes on this responsibility in order to save clients the time and stress of having to remember. By the 10-year mark after the issuance and every 10 years after that, your lawyer will file continued affidavits of use.

Contact a New Orleans Trademark Lawyer Today

Lemler IP is a legal resource for the people of New Orleans regarding all intellectual property matters, including trademarks. If you need an experienced law firm with the skill and knowledge of IP law to effectively represent and protect your rights and interests, contact Lemler IP today.