Trademark Infringement Attorney

Trademark infringement occurs when someone, without the owner's permission, uses a mark that is confusingly similar to another's trademark in connection with related goods or services. The legal standard under the Lanham Act is likelihood of confusion: whether the use is likely to cause confusion as to the source, sponsorship, approval, or affiliation of the goods or services. Registration is not required to have trademark rights.

We recommend documenting the infringing use with screenshots, dates, and URLs before you take any action, then contacting a trademark attorney for a legal assessment. A cease-and-desist letter is a formal written demand to stop the infringing use, and we recommend it as the first step. We also recommend that the letter state your rights and the legal consequences of non-compliance accurately.

No. Trademark rights in the US can arise from use of the mark, even without federal registration, and 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a) provides a federal claim without registration. The USPTO notes that these common-law rights are based on use in a particular geographic area and may be enforceable only in the areas where you use the mark if that use covers less than the entire country. Registration on the Principal Register adds statutory benefits under the Lanham Act: it is constructive notice of the registrant's claim of ownership (§ 1072); the certificate is prima facie evidence of the mark's validity, the registrant's ownership, and the exclusive right to use the mark for the listed goods or services (§ 1057(b)); and once the mark is registered, the application filing date counts as constructive use conferring nationwide priority, subject to the exceptions in 15 U.S.C. § 1057(c). Statutory damages are available in cases involving a counterfeit of a mark registered on the Principal Register and in use (§§ 1116(d), 1117(c)).

Non-compliance opens the path to escalation. If the infringer has a pending trademark application, an opposition at the TTAB may be available. If they have a registered mark, a cancellation proceeding may apply. If neither applies, a federal lawsuit under the Lanham Act seeking injunctive relief and damages is the next step.

Under the Lanham Act, a plaintiff who establishes a violation is entitled, subject to 15 U.S.C. §§ 1111 and 1114 and the principles of equity, to recover the defendant's profits, any damages sustained, and the costs of the action. In assessing damages, the court may enter judgment, according to the circumstances of the case, for any sum above actual damages, not exceeding three times that amount. The court in exceptional cases may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party. Injunctive relief, a court order requiring the infringer to stop, may be granted according to the principles of equity and on terms the court deems reasonable.

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) is an administrative tribunal within the USPTO that decides the respective rights of registration. An opposition challenges an application within 30 days after its publication or within an extension of that period. A cancellation challenges an existing registration. In these proceedings, the TTAB may refuse registration or cancel, restrict, or rectify a registration. We recommend a TTAB proceeding when the goal is to block or remove a registration rather than to recover damages.

Major platforms, including Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook, have trademark complaint procedures that allow rights holders to report infringing accounts, usernames, and content. As of November 3, 2026, YouTube, for example, states that it performs a limited review of reasonable complaints, forwards each trademark complaint to the uploader before taking any action, and removes content in clear cases of infringement. For persistent infringers who refile under new accounts, we recommend combining a cease-and-desist with a platform complaint.

The Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) is a mandatory administrative proceeding for resolving disputes over domain names registered and used in bad faith. If someone has registered a domain using your trademark, a UDRP complaint filed with WIPO or FORUM can result in the domain being transferred to you. As of November 3, 2026, WIPO states that, if there are no procedural issues, a case normally should be completed within 2 months from the date WIPO receives the complaint. Three elements must be proven: the domain is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which you have rights, the registrant has no rights or legitimate interests in the domain, and the domain has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

Yes. I am licensed in California, Ontario, and Quebec, and I advise on both US and Canadian infringement matters. US and Canadian trademark law differ in important ways, and the enforcement procedures are entirely separate. We recommend one strategy across both jurisdictions so the positions taken in each stay aligned.

Resolution time depends on the infringer's response. For fiscal year 2026, the USPTO reported that TTAB trial cases, which include oppositions and cancellations, took an average of 152.7 weeks (median 135.6 weeks) from commencement to completion; those figures exclude decisions issued as precedents, considered for issuance as such, or with anomalous prosecution histories.