Insights & Tips
A cooperative is a business or organization that is owned and operated for the benefit of those using its services. Profits and earnings generated are distributed among the cooperative members, who are known as user-owners. An elected board of director …
A limited liability company (LLC) is a hybrid legal structure providing the limited liability features of a corporation with the tax efficiencies and operational flexibility of a partnership. The “owners” of an LLC are called “members.” Depending on th …
A sole proprietorship is the simplest and most common structure to choose when starting a business. It is an unincorporated business owned and operated by one individual with no distinction between the business and you – the owner. As owner, you are en …
Why am I starting a business? What kind of business do I want to start? Who is my ideal customer? What products or services will my business provide? Am I prepared to spend the time and money needed to get my business started? Who is my competition? Wh …
According to the most recent regulatory framework, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”) has established a uniform domain name dispute resolution policy that is applicable to all registrars of .com, .net and .org domain name …
Congress enacted the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act which prohibits certain types of cybersquatting. The statute amended the Lanham Act to make it a type of trademark infringement if a domain name containing a distinctive or famous tradema …
Cybersquatting is a broad term used in the trademark and internet communities to describe the bad faith registration of domain names. Cybersquatting encompasses registration of domain names containing trademarks, either to sell back to the trademark ow …
In the United States, mere registration of a domain name does not constitute use of the domain name as a trademark. Accordingly, the courts have found that mere registration of a domain name, with no other act, does not constitute trademark infringemen …
No. It is true that an internet site may be accessed through the domain name by internet users anywhere in the world. Courts in the United States have ruled that mere registration of a domain does not constitute use of the domain name as a trademark. T …
A particularly egregious form of trademark infringement is called counterfeiting. Counterfeiting consists of the use of a substantially identical copy of a registered trademark on the same goods or services for which the original mark is registered. Th …
Section 43(c) of the Lanham Act defines three defenses to a claim of dilution under the federal statute: comparative advertising, noncommercial use, and news reporting and commentary. The comparative advertising defense is conditioned on the challenged …
Trademark dilution is the use of a mark or trade name in a way that dilutes the distinctive quality of a famous mark. Unlike traditional infringement claims, to establish a claim for dilution, the owner of a famous mark does not need to demonstrate tha …
