"Understanding the Importance of Trademarks," Davis Wright Tremaine, Portland
For equipment, footwear, and apparel companies, your trademarks are often your customers' key identifiers of your products, so protecting those marks becomes vital to your business. Are you recognizing all of your trademarks and taking all the possible steps to protect them?
Davis Wright Tremaine attorney Matthew Moersfelder discussed how trademarks not only identify your brand and your business, but add value, prevent conflict, and become portable assets:
- What is a trademark?
- Why use trademark?
- How should you go about selecting a mark?
- What factors should be considered during selection of a mark?
- What do you have to do to acquire or own the mark?
- Why should you register a mark?
- How do you know what to register?
- Why are some marks better than others?
- How does a mark accrue value?
- How does a business increase the value of its marks?
Matthew Moersfelder, a member of DWT's Outdoor, Footwear & Apparel practice, focuses his practice in the areas of trademark, unfair competition, and copyright law, with an emphasis on protecting and promoting clients’ overall brand. His experience includes helping clients obtain domestic and international trademarks, maintain and protect current trademarks, and assert trademark rights against infringers. Matthew represents a number of well-known brands, including REI, K-2 Corporation, and Ride Snowboards.