Warning

Info

Warning

Info

Warning

Info

LSDefine

Simple English definitions for legal terms

Lanham Act

Read a random definition: Endangered Species Act (ESA)

A quick definition of Lanham Act:

The Lanham Act is a law that helps people protect their trademarks. A trademark is a special name or symbol that a company uses to show that their products are different from others. To get protection under the Lanham Act, the trademark must be in use and unique. If someone else uses a similar trademark, it can cause confusion for customers and be against the law. The Lanham Act helps people take legal action against others who use their trademark without permission.

A more thorough explanation:

The Lanham Act is a law passed by the US Congress in 1946 that provides a national system for registering trademarks and protects the owner of a federally registered mark against the use of similar marks that may cause confusion among consumers or dilute the value of a famous mark.

For a mark to be eligible for trademark protection, it must be in use in commerce and distinctive. The Lanham Act defines a trademark as a mark used in commerce or registered with a bona fide intent to use it in commerce. If a mark is not in use in commerce at the time of registration, it may still be permitted if the applicant establishes a good faith intent to use the mark in commerce in the future. Exclusive rights to a trademark are awarded to the first to use it in commerce.

The second requirement, that a mark be distinctive, means that it must be able to identify and distinguish particular goods as coming from one producer or source and not another. Trademarks are divided into four categories of distinctiveness: arbitrary/fanciful, suggestive, descriptive, and generic. A mark that is categorized as either arbitrary/fanciful or suggestive is considered inherently distinctive, and exclusive rights to the mark are determined solely by priority of use. A trademark that is categorized as descriptive is only protectable as a trademark if it has acquired a secondary meaning in the minds of the consuming public. Generic terms are never eligible for trademark protection because they refer to a general class of products rather than indicating a unique source.

To establish a trademark infringement under the Lanham Act, the plaintiff must demonstrate that they have a valid and legally protectable mark, they own the mark, and the defendant's use of the mark to identify goods or services causes a likelihood of confusion. For example, if a company uses a logo that is similar to another company's logo and sells similar products, it may be considered a trademark violation if consumers are likely to confuse the two companies.

Landon v. Plasencia | Lapp test

Warning

Info

General

General chat about the legal profession.
main_chatroom
👍 Chat vibe: 0 👎
Help us make LSD better!
Tell us what's important to you
19:42
it was hard to not improve it. google search was terrible due to the ads and seo cheaters with buzz words and alt text
Dkk
19:42
SEO is big money
2016 pushed the conservative party into populism irreversibly
Dkk
19:43
Maybe, but if this is populism, then every election is populist.
19:43
@Dkk: yeah register 1 website and every swinging tom dick and harry calls/emails/texts to 'help with seo'. like bruh, if YOU found it, what i am doing is working
Dkk
19:43
Indeed!
19:48
wasp, i think people are hopeful for a gov who at least attempts to care about the common man
MIAMI A
[] AromaticTroubledDormouse
20:55
How does one know if they are UR1 or UR2?
[] AromaticTroubledDormouse
20:56
CONGRATS MACAQUE!
TY
got a random stanford email and almost had a heart attack
ALSO CONGRATS!
Congrats1!
21:15
Miami A, yall I'm so excited I could cry.
21:15
Feel like I can finally stop holding my breath!! Whew!!!
[] baddestbunny
22:16
every time I get accosted by a strange man who follows me around because my male coworkers were too busy talking to walk me back to my car I get closer to saying we need to bring back traditional gender roles
Dkk
22:32
Nice! @Macaque
Dkk
22:32
@Aromatic, Have to guess.
Dkk
22:33
That sucks @Bunny do you have to go to the hospital?
[] baddestbunny
22:40
I said accosted not assaulted
23:35
guys. my notre dame address just went long is this good or bad
1a2b3c4d26z
23:37
Oooooo me too
23:37
omg is this good or bad
Dkk
23:47
Idk if gender roles are gunna fix that then.
23:49
it looks like most people who applied in october last cycle didn't get a decision until january... does it even mean anything that our addresses went long??
hows ED 2 compared to ED 1?
Dkk
0:10
No idea
windyMagician
0:34
reporting live to say my ndls address also went long
does it mean anything ^
LSD+ is ad-free, with DMs, discounts, case briefs & more.