Trademark infringement : unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark on or in connection with goods and/or services in a manner that is likely to cause confusion, deception, or mistake about the source of the goods and/or services.
By and large, it can be considered a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the license). Infringement may occur when one party, the “infringer”, uses a trademark which is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark owned by another party, in relation to products or services which are identical or similar to the products or services which the registration covers.
One of the most important assets of a modern company is its intellectual property. Competitors and employees alike recognize this. Problems arise when misguided people take it upon themselves to benefit from the work of others, without proper compensation or permission.
Usually, management learns of an intellectual property problem when an employee separates from the company, a new competitor surfaces, or a competitor makes unexpected gains. Most of the time, the Victim Company has little information, a lot of suspicions, and little time to resolve the issues.
Eurosurveillance CI Romania can help get the information necessary to formulate an appropriate response, whether it is civil litigation, successful criminal prosecution, or an amicable settlement with the offending party. Eurosurveillance CI Romania will gather evidence, take statements, and develop sources of information that allow our clients to prevail in these difficult cases. These here are considered the best approach when we are instructed to look into a possible trademark infringement:
- A brand owner suspects that its products are infringed upon or counterfeited and therefore hires us to visit some stores or showrooms, speak to salespeople, determine who the owner of the store is and ascertain the scope of the infringing or counterfeit activity;
- Before or after commencing an action against an infringer or counterfeiter, a brand owner hires us to take pictures of a store window displaying infringing or counterfeit goods, to buy infringing or counterfeit goods and to speak with sales representatives in order to assess how they present the products to consumers;
- Before or after commencing an action against an Internet infringer or counterfeiter, a brand owner hires us to contact the online seller, exchange communication with the seller and purchase infringing or counterfeit goods to ultimately identify the seller and ascertain his or her domicile; or
- After commencing an action against an infringer or counterfeiter, discovery is difficult and a brand owner has difficulties getting the requested documentation. The brand owner, therefore, hires us to visit defendant’s stores, speak to defendant’s salespeople and record conversations with defendant’s low-level employees in order to gather evidence as to defendant’s representations to consumers regarding the infringing or counterfeit goods.
Our experience and success in pursuing these cases, in civil as well as criminal venues, is indispensable to clients who face these issues. With our help of investigating the matter, and with the help of subsequent litigation support, we achieve and obtain the following, on our client behalf:
- a court order (injunction) that the defendant stop using the accused mark;
- an order requiring the destruction or forfeiture of infringing articles;
- monetary relief, including defendant’s profits, any damages sustained by the plaintiff, and the costs of the action;
- an order that the defendant, in certain cases, pay the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees.
We know how much a brand or product owner can lose when these are attacked, so do give us the opportunity to help and put things right.