Every Country in the world has an official trademark registration body. American trademarks are registered with the USPTO in the USA. However, it is the responsibility of the trademark owner to investigate unauthorized use and to take legal action against offending individuals or companies.
Tips for sending a formal notice to defend a trademark
- You should indicate in the letter, as appropriate: <Trademark> and/or <Community Trademark> and/or<Community Trademark>,
- To be completed, depending on the circumstances, by precisely citing the goods and/or services identical and/or similar to those designated by the unlawful use in the <Designation of the subject of the dispute> field,
- Evidence of unauthorized use may consist of screen prints of the offending website and search results on GOOGLE or BING,
- Before sending any formal notice, it is generally advisable to have the disputed acts recorded by a bailiff to secure the evidence. The following note can be added in such cases: “A bailiff has officially recorded these facts.”
Below is an example of a letter to defend your trademark, to be personalized according to the legal context:
Contents
Sample letter of formal notice to oppose the use of your trademark in the event of unauthorized exploitation
<On company letterhead>
<Company name>
<Company contact details>
For the attention of the legal representative
<City>, on <Date of day>
By registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt,
Letter number: <To be reported>
Subject: Formal notice – opposition to using the trademark <Trademark name>
Enclosure: <List of evidence attached to letter>
Dear Sir/Madam,
Mr. <Name and First Name of the trademark owner> is the owner of the French trademark <Trademark name> registered on <Filing date> under the number <Trademark registration number>, which he regularly exploits through the company <Company name> of which he is the Manager, for the product classes <Registered product classes> and more particularly to designate <Products and services of the operating company>.
Mr. <Name and forename of the trademark owner> and the company < Name of the company> thus enjoy a private and absolute right to this trademark, established and protected by the provisions of the <Intellectual Property Code>, which entitle them to oppose in <Country> any infringement likely to be brought against it by anyone, on any grounds and in any form whatsoever.
It has come to our attention that you use the trademark <Trademark name> for :
- <Designation of the object of the dispute>.
However, neither Mr <Name and First Name of the trademark owner> nor the company < Name of the company> has given you such authorization.
These facts thus constitute trademark infringement under articles <Articles of Law> of the Intellectual Property Code, which prohibit trademark reproduction and/or imitation from designating goods and/or services identical or similar to those specified in the registration.
Consequently, we give you formal notice to :
- Cease, within 15 days of receipt of this letter, the use of the trademark <Trademark name> in any form, for any purpose, and on any medium whatsoever;
- Undertake, for the future, not to use the Name <Trademark name> or any other phonetically, intellectually, and/or visually similar Name to designate identical and/or similar products and/or services.
Failing this, at the end of this period, we will bring this case before the competent courts to take against you all measures likely to safeguard our rights and compensate for our prejudice.
You should, therefore, consider this registered letter as a formal notice of default likely to give rise to all deadlines, interest, and other consequences that the Law, in particular, article <Article of Law> of the Civil Code and the Courts attach to formal notices.
Sincerely.
<First Name and surname of Manager>
<Signature + company stamp>
Download a sample letter to defend your brand
To use and personalize this letter to oppose the use of your trademark, you have to copy-paste the text of this article into your word processor (Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Writer) or your email program.
We’re interested in your opinion and advice on how to defend a trademark:
Tell us in the comments. We look forward to hearing from you.
