by Mark Malek

Trademarks are used to identify the source of a good or service.  Trademarks can be extremely valuable to maintain the identity of a good and/or service.  In order for a mark to qualify for Federal protection, it must be used in interstate commerce.  It is possible for an owner of a trademark to reserve protection on the Federal level by filing an “intent to use” trademark application.  Such an application is examined in the Trademark Office, but does not issue until the owner of the mark uses it in interstate commerce.  The State of Florida also offers protection of trademarks on the state level for marks that are only used within the State of Florida.  However, there is no “intent to use” status for Florida trademarks.  Applications can be filed with the Secretary of State’s office.

Although registration of a trademark is not necessary in order to claim protection in it, registration does provide a trademark owner with a presumption of validity and evidence as to the length of use of the trademark.  Trademarks are important to ensure that a business owner can maintain a certain level of quality that can be identified by a single source.  Further, trademarks allow the owner to ensure that an inferior product or service is not associated with their trademark.

One of the caveats that trademark owners have to keep in mind, though, is that protection can be lost if you don’t actively look out for infringing uses.  In other words, with respect to your enforcement rights, you have to “use them or lose them.”  With the all-encompassing reach of the Internet, policing one’s mark can become an extremely difficult task.  Google’s “Alert” service, which runs automated searches for keywords and emails the results, can be an important tool in making sure you stay on top things.  Also, it can be a bit of an art form to eliminate improper uses of your trademark without looking like a bully.