Am I worried about nothing?

[superset]

Hi all,

Received a letter from a solicitor this morning. It would seem we have been using a product trademark on our website which we are not authorised to use.

Naturally the letter laid out all the reasons why we were infringing the trademark in question and that we need to remove all references to this item within 14 days. This appears to be all standard stuff in accordance with the included "Code of Practice".

We immediately took action and removed all products and imagery relating to the trademarked item and sent a letter back to the solicitor as confirmation.

My concern however, is that despite complying with their request, we could still be liable for the trademark owners costs and damages. Two paragraphs at the end of the letter read as follows:

We must:

1. "Pay out clients damages or account to it for your profits (in either case, to be assessed if not agreed)" - no idea what this means

2. "Pay our clients legal costs (to be assessed if not agreeed)"

Then the next paragraph appears to contradict the above by saying that "If we do not hear from you substantively within 14 days our client reserves the right to commence legal action against you without further notice, including seeking and injunction, damges and costs"


..so slightly confused! :| Any ideas anyone?

[Ashley]

have you sent the letter yet to their lawyers? if not hold on to it until you get advice.

[obscure]

I'm not a lawyer and this isn't legal advise (but I do know quite a lot about trademark law).
If you use someone else's trademark to benefit your business it is trademark infringement and could also be classed as passing off (using their logo etc to try to fool customers into thinking your product is made by the other company).


An extreme example would be the manufacture of fake/copy items with the real companies logo, which you sell. A minor case of infringement would be using the name/logo of a competitor on your web site (but in such a minimal way that it was clearly just to show a similarity in products or that your "cartridge" was compatible with their "doodat".

Obviously I don't know exactly what you did. If your web site looked just like theirs and your product looks like their and you had their logo on your site in such a way that people might believe that the companies were connected then it might be serious. However if you just had a name/logo and you removed it as soon as they informed you then it is very unlikely that it would be worth their while to take legal action because it would be hard for them to prove that they suffered any real financial loss.

Most likely they will now go away. There is a chance they will want to get back the cost of getting their lawyers to write to you by threatening to sue. If they do then you will need to seek legal advise.

[Fuzzy]

Fine words from Dan there!!:D

I'm not a lawyer and this isn't legal advise (but I do know quite a lot about trademark law).
If you use someone else's trademark to benefit your business it is trademark infringement and could also be classed as passing off (using their logo etc to try to fool customers into thinking your product is made by the other company).


An extreme example would be the manufacture of fake/copy items with the real companies logo, which you sell. A minor case of infringement would be using the name/logo of a competitor on your web site (but in such a minimal way that it was clearly just to show a similarity in products or that your "cartridge" was compatible with their "doodat".

Obviously I don't know exactly what you did. If your web site looked just like theirs and your product looks like their and you had their logo on your site in such a way that people might believe that the companies were connected then it might be serious. However if you just had a name/logo and you removed it as soon as they informed you then it is very unlikely that it would be worth their while to take legal action because it would be hard for them to prove that they suffered any real financial loss.

Most likely they will now go away. There is a chance they will want to get back the cost of getting their lawyers to write to you by threatening to sue. If they do then you will need to seek legal advise.

[superset]

Thank you Dan, I hope it falls into the minor category.

[Tungstone]

Most likely they will now go away. There is a chance they will want to get back the cost of getting their lawyers to write to you by threatening to sue. If they do then you will need to seek legal advise.

Me thinks as well they will go away