To obtain foreign patent protection, you must file a patent application in each country where you desire protection. If a patent is infringed, a court may order the infringer to cease the infringement and pay damages to the patent owner. Learn more about the process of obtaining and enforcing patent rights. Or see information on our Patent Practice Group . A trademark is any word, name or symbol that is adopted and used by a company to identify its goods and distinguish them from those manufactured or sold by others.
Trademarks can be one of a company's most valuable assets.
A word that is the generic name for that type of product cannot be protected as a trademark, since such a word is not distinctive of products produced by any particular source. Using the same reasoning, the less descriptive a mark is of a product, the stronger protection the mark will provide against similar marks. Trademarks may be protected under both state and federal law. As with copyrights, you will receive some trademark protection as soon as you use a mark and those rights will last as long as the mark remains distinctive and you do not abandon it. To maintain federal trademark registrations, you will need to file periodic renewals and certifications of use.