Trademark, Copyright and Unfair Competition Disputes for Businesses

Yes. Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. section 1125(a)) protects unregistered marks, trade names and trade dress against uses likely to cause confusion, and Texas common law does the same within the state. Without a registration you must prove that your mark is distinctive and that you used it first in the relevant market, which a federal registration would otherwise presume. The remedies are the same: an injunction, profits, damages and, in exceptional cases, attorney's fees.

Not necessarily. The letter is a claim, not a ruling. The questions are who used the mark first, whether the goods, services and customers overlap enough for confusion to be likely, and how strong the other mark is. Many letters resolve with a coexistence agreement, a modest change or a reasoned response. Ignoring the letter is the one option that reliably makes things worse, because it supports a later claim that the infringement was willful.

Original text, photographs, graphics and code on a website are protected by copyright from the moment they are created. Before suing, the work must be registered with the Copyright Office or registration must have been refused (17 U.S.C. section 411(a)). Once registered, the owner may seek an injunction, actual damages and profits, or statutory damages of $750 to $30,000 per work, up to $150,000 for willful infringement. A takedown notice to the host often removes the copy faster than any court.

Usually the contractor, unless a written agreement assigns the copyright to your company or the work qualifies as a work made for hire under the federal statute's narrow categories. Employees are different: work created within the scope of employment belongs to the employer. The fix is a signed assignment, and a dispute with a contractor often turns on whether one exists and what it covers.

Two routes exist. The federal Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (15 U.S.C. section 1125(d)) allows a lawsuit against a person who registers or uses a domain name identical or confusingly similar to your distinctive mark with a bad faith intent to profit, with statutory damages of $1,000 to $100,000 per domain name. The faster and cheaper route is usually an administrative proceeding under the registrars' uniform dispute policy, which can order a transfer but awards no damages.

Copyright claims must be brought in federal court. Lanham Act trademark, false advertising and cybersquatting claims are usually brought there too, often with Texas claims attached. Infringement of a Texas-registered mark, dilution under Texas law and common-law unfair competition can be heard in state court. Licensing disputes follow the contract's forum and arbitration clauses. The choice depends on the claims, the parties and where the evidence is.

Under 15 U.S.C. section 1117(a), a successful plaintiff may recover the defendant's profits, its own damages and the costs of the action, and the court may enter judgment for up to three times the actual damages and award attorney's fees in exceptional cases. An injunction against further use is the remedy most owners need first. Under Texas law, infringement of a state-registered mark carries similar remedies, including treble damages and fees for knowing or bad faith violations.