The effort you put into developing a unique brand for your business and protecting it can’t be ignored. You went through all the required procedures of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), including searching trademarks and filling out forms for application. Thus, it can be stressful when someone steals or misuses your trademark.
If this happens, here is what you should do.
Learn more about the case
Undoubtedly, you would want to contact the person and stop them from using your trademark or file a lawsuit against them. However, before doing this, you should learn more about the case to identify if infringement has actually occurred.
You can do this by showing a customer the trademark of the other business to confirm if they can confuse it with your company. Nonetheless, some cases may be obvious. For example, if a new business is established with the same name as yours, particularly in your region.
Essentially, if someone uses your trademark, leading to confusion, deception or mistake, it may constitute infringement.
Go to court
Upon confirming infringement, you should go to court to stop the other business from confusing your customers. The court may ask them to stop using your sign, name or logo. If the confusion is on the origin of goods, the court may order the goods to be destroyed or disposed of if they are held by a third party.
Note that the other party may fight back. Thus, it will help to have your USPTO documents that prove you own and have protected the trademark.
If your trademark is stolen or misused., you should get legal help from the beginning to avoid costly mistakes.