Trademark Infringement Penalties

When a Trademark Infringement suit is brought before the courts in New York, both parties are at the risk of some expense. The plaintiff will put forward the claim that their trademark has been inappropriately used by another party, in such a manner that is damaging to their business or that is causing confusion amongst consumers. Depending on the decision of the courts, the trademark infringement penalties that may be incurred by the defendant can be severe.

A primary objective of the plaintiff will be to prevent the other party from continuing to use a similar or identical trademark to them. In order to achieve this result they will first need to prove that the defendant’s trademark is sufficiently similar to prompt consumers to confuse the two brands. They must also show that the physical markets of the products overlap, and that they are being utilised for similar products. However it is not essential for these specific issues to be proven, as certain extremely well known trademarks can be infringed upon even by unrelated products.

If trademark infringement has been proven to the satisfaction of a New York court, certain rulings are generally made. These trademark infringement penalties will almost always order that the defendant cease and desist from making use of the trademark in any way. They may not continue to use if as a means of identification in advertisements, marketing or on their products. A further trademark infringement penalty may be that the defendant is forced to pay damages relating to profits lost by the plaintiff as a result of the infringement. Another severe penalty that can be incurred is that the defendant may be forced to turn all income over to the plaintiff, which has been generated during the period that they were making use of the illegal trademark. They may also be forced to recompense the plaintiff for any other associated damages.