Garage door industry magazine for garage door dealers, garage door manufacturers, garage door distributors, garage door installers, loading docks, garage door operators and openers, gates, and tools for the door industry.
Issue link: https://idoi.epubxp.com/i/105596
LEGAL&LEGISLATION; T rademarks and Copyrights, and the Internet By Brian J. Schoolman Safran Law Offices IDA has recently had to deal with an increase in the number of non-member garage door companies using IDA's logo in advertisements and on websites. Because the logo and the name of IDA are trademarked, those uses are illegal. However, in order to maintain the legal protections that come from the federal and state trademark laws, IDA – or any other trademark owner – has to take steps to stop infringing uses. Those efforts have become both more important and more difficult in the Internet age. Basics of Trademark Protection In its most basic sense, a trademark is a brand name, or a business name. Trademarks, or the similar concept of service marks, can include any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used or intended to be used identify and distinguish goods or services from one seller or provider from those of another. (US Patent and Trademark Office website) By law, a trademark automatically is protected as soon as it is put into use in commerce. However, those protections are limited, and vary from state to state, unless the trademark is registered with the Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO"), which is a federal agency. Registration with the PTO carries with it several important advantages. Most significantly, registration puts the trademark into the federal database, which gives notice of the registrant's claim of ownership of the mark, as well as a nationwide presumption of ownership. Registration also gives the owner the exclusive right to use the mark on or in connection with the goods or services listed in the registration. Also importantly, registration is required for a trademark owner to benefit from the federal trademark infringement remedies, including statutory damages and other heightened remedies through litigation. 10 International Door & Operator Industryª A company does not necessarily have to register a trademark to have protection in the state or locality. Each state has its own type of trademark or business name protections. Additionally, the federal Lanham Act prohibits the use in commerce of "any word, term, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof, or any false designation of origin, false or misleading description of fact, or false or misleading representation of fact" which may cause confusion as to the origin of a good or service, or which misrepresents the nature or characteristics of the good or service. (15 U.S.C. 1125(a)(1)) These "unfair competition" or "passing off" limitations are another way that trademarks or company identities and products are protected against infringement. In the digital age, another aspect of trademark law protects against "cybersquatting," which is the acquisition of a World Wide Web domain name that uses or implies the trademark or trade name of another person or company. An owner of a distinctive or famous trademark is entitled to protection against another person registering a domain name that is identical or confusingly similar to the protected trademark. The protection is limited, however, to those instances where the domain registrant had a bad faith intent to profit from the domain name. (See 11 U.S.C. 1125(d)) Difference between Trademark and Copyright It is important to note that while trademark and copyright are both aspects of intellectual property protection, the rights are very different. A copyright is the right to reproduce any original work of creativity, which is fixed to a tangible medium (published) or else performed publicly. There is no requirement that copyrighted works have any sort of commercial Continued on page 13