Failure to “police” trademarks can result in the loss trademark rights. Generally, companies “police” their marks by requesting that employees report uses of confusingly similar marks by others and by monitoring newly filed trademark applications at the United States Patent and Trademark Office and/or throughout the world. To enhance the policing effort, professional watch services are available.
A watch service is designed to alert trademark owners to newly filed trademark applications for marks that may be confusingly similar to their own. The service can be customized to meet a company’s particular needs, depending upon its unique circumstances. For example, a watch service may cover only the United States or may cover a block of countries. One major benefit of a trademark watch service is that for a nominal annual fee, trademark owners may prevent infringing uses of their marks early on, thereby avoiding the need to engage in costly litigation.
In today’s global market, a trademark watch service has become an invaluable tool for companies to monitor and protect one of their most valuable assets: their brand names.