What makes a trademark dead

Trademarks are an important way to protect a product. Once you have a trademark, keeping it alive will allow your product to continue to be protected. This portion of the site is for informational purposes only. The content is not legal advice. The statements and opinions are the expression of author, not LegalZoom, and have not been evaluated by LegalZoom for accuracy, completeness, or changes in the law.

What Is a Dead Trademark? By Brette Sember, J. Ways a Trademark Can Die There are several situations that can lead to the death of a trademark. If a trademark becomes generic, it is no longer enforceable.

This can happen when the general public starts to associate the trademark name with the actual product itself. Once this happens, the name is no longer uniquely referring to one brand from one company and the trademark is no longer enforceable.

Companies such as Kleenex and Xerox struggled to keep their trademarks from becoming generic. Trademarks protect the goodwill of consumers and companies by helping consumers to identify the origin of a particular good or service.

It is not necessary to apply for trademark registration in order to be granted certain trademark rights provided that you are using the mark in commerce.

A dead trademark is a trademark that was registered with the U. Trademark registration may lapse because the owner of the mark failed to file necessary paperwork at the time of filing or because they failed to provide the USPTO with a continued statement of use after the mark had been registered for 5 years.

Additionally, if the registrant loses a trademark opposition or a trademark infringement case, the mark could be listed as dead. In order to determine if the dead trademark is still in use you must perform a background search. In , Mr. Gerben started the firm to provide high-quality trademark services at reasonable prices. Today, he is recognized by the World Trademark Review as a top trademark filer, having registered over 6, trademarks.

The contents of this blog are for informational purposes only and may not be relied on as legal advice. Poor Licensing: Frequently, a trademark owner will license the use of its trademark to other businesses.

In those instances, the trademark owner must monitor and supervise the trademark use to make sure that the licensee is producing the same exact good or service. Assignments: A trademark owner can transfer the trademark ownership rights to another party. Such a transfer must include a sale of the trademarked products as well. In other words, the trademark owner may not sell only the trademark because the trademark would no longer represent the original product that the trademark was associated with.

How to Acquire a Dead Trademark and the Associated Risks A business that wants to acquire a dead trademark needs to proceed with caution.

Getting the help of an experienced intellectual property attorney can save such a business a substantial amount of time and money by doing it right.