Trademarks, Advertising and Brand Management

Protecting the time and resources expended in creating corporate identities and product brands is one of the most important tasks in a competitive marketplace. Every day, Haynes and Boone assists clients with defending their products and identity in stores, on the Internet, and in the marketplace of ideas. We serve clients by housing one of the most advanced, experienced and efficient trademark practices available. Whether a company is looking to clear new branding campaigns, register trademarks domestically or internationally or implement a comprehensive trademark protection program, Haynes and Boone can help.

Why Use Haynes and Boone for Trademark Protection

Haynes and Boone has attorneys and legal assistants whose practices are solely dedicated to trademark law. This dedication and focus on trademark protection translates directly into efficiency for the client and a readily available source of trademark law. Should a client ever have a question on trademark law, they are able to call us and get an answer, usually within minutes.

The volume of trademarks we handle warrants the purchase and maintenance of specialized trademark docketing software, the training of legal assistants and docketing personnel in the peculiarities of trademark work as opposed to patent work or other legal matters, and the establishment of detailed trademark procedures guides and workflow processes. More significantly, because of the complex foreign and domestic trademark issues we handle every day, our trademark attorneys have the experience and knowledge to anticipate, and thus minimize, potential problems when advising our clients about the selection of new marks, the development of enforcement strategies, and the filing of applications. This experience results in fewer challenges and rejections to our clients’ filings, and reduces the overall cost of establishing and protecting new brands. Finally, because we ask our clients about their specific goals for each matter, we gain an understanding how those goals fit within their broader objectives. Knowing our clients’ goals and priorities allows us to continually minimize our clients’ trademark legal expenditures by developing branding and enforcement solutions that are cost appropriate and match our clients’ business needs.

Trademark Prosecution

Haynes and Boone can prosecute and register trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as well as help with registration in every foreign country. We have handled hundreds of oppositions and cancellations, thus our attorneys are very familiar with the Trademark Office and how it operates. They are adept at filing new trademarks and maintaining existing ones and are able to help companies navigate through the sometimes complex process that is trademark prosecution.

Brand Management and Planning

Haynes and Boone can help your company plan for the future in a number of ways. Prior to launching a new product or company our attorneys can save you time and expense by helping you research potential trademark issues that can typically occur when launching a new brand or product. We can help in the search and clearance process and make recommendations on issues that might arise with a potential trademark. Haynes and Boone has the resources to handle this process in jurisdictions throughout the world. By being proactive in this process our attorneys can help you to avoid pitfalls in the future.

Haynes and Boone also can help with the ongoing process of managing a company’s entire trademark portfolio.  One of our most useful assets in this process is the sophisticated software system that the firm already has in place to track and alert our attorneys and their clients as to exactly when filing dates are coming up and what fees need to be paid.  This process also involves the domestic and international monitoring of attendant deadlines, such as renewals, tax and annuity payments, declarations, and proof of use.  Our software systems are very user-friendly and we are always working on new versions that give our clients online greater access to their trademark portfolios in real time.

Advertising

Haynes and Boone also reviews its clients’ advertising materials to minimize claims of false advertising and trademark infringement, to identify areas of copyright clearance for included photographs and music, and to promote consistent trademark usage and compliance with trademark usage guidelines. Our lawyers counsel clients through the myriad of sweepstakes and contest rules and regulations, as well as the numerous e-mail spam and privacy laws.

Service Offerings

Among the trademark services that Haynes and Boone offers are:

• Developing and implementing trademark clearance, protection, and enforcement programs
  
• Planning, managing, and conducting worldwide trademark clearance and availability searches and analyzing proposed marks for registrability
  
• Obtaining U.S. federal and state trademark registrations through the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and local Secretaries of State
  
• Crafting international trademark protection strategies, and advising of relevant foreign trademark practices
  
• Securing, maintaining, and enforcing trademark rights abroad through an established network of international counsel
  
• Managing domestic and international trademark portfolios, and monitoring attendant deadlines, such as renewals, tax and annuity payments, declarations, and proof of use
  
• Protecting branded products against counterfeiting and wrongful seizure by recording trademark registrations with the United States Customs Service
  
• Advertising reviews and counseling regarding the proper use of marks, and reviewing proposed sales, advertising, and promotional matter for compliance with trademark use and notice requirements
  
• Initiating, prosecuting, and defending against claims of trademark infringement, unfair competition, trade dress infringement, and Internet domain name infringement (ACPA and UDRP claims), in state and federal courts, before ICANN dispute resolution panels, and through arbitration
  
• Instituting, prosecuting, and defending against opposition, cancellation, and concurrent use proceedings before the United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and corresponding governmental units abroad
  
• Conducting trademark portfolio audits
  
• Developing and implementing domestic and international trademark watching services to guard against the use or registration of confusingly-similar marks by third-parties
  
• Commissioning and conducting trademark-related investigations
  
• Structuring, negotiating, drafting, and recording, as appropriate, trademark license, merchandising, security interest, acquisition, and co-branding agreements
  
• Conducting domestic and international trademark due diligence in connection with client mergers and acquisitions and pending or threatened intellectual property litigation
  
• Providing in-house seminars and continuing legal education programs to marketing and legal departments on trademark and copyright matters