The internet is massive and the range of products available for purchase through online retailers is endless. California customers can go online and search for virtually any product to find the best price available — often turning to foreign suppliers for the best deals. However, what if another supplier is offering something that looks exactly like your branded and patented product? And what if that seller is undercutting your prices significantly? If you’re facing competition like this, it’s possible that your intellectual property rights are being violated.
You might not have ever considered the need to protect your intellectual property rights. Or, you might have already filed a patent application and legally codified your intellectual property rights. Regardless of your circumstances, in the online sales arena, a lot of situations can arise in which you need to assert your intellectual property rights in court — and these issues can become particularly complicated if a foreign seller is interfering with and intercepting your connection with your customer base.
Many businesses have been destroyed, and the inventors with specific products have lost everything, because their ideas were unlawfully or unethically stolen from them. However, by registering your trademarks and/or by patenting your products via the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), you may be able to protect yourself from this kind difficulty.
The process of obtaining a trademark or patent isn’t exactly straightforward. In order to gain approval for your patent and trademark request, you’ll need to prove several important elements pertaining to the originality of your intellectual property and/or trademark. For this reason, inventors and business owners may want to seek help from an experienced patent attorney.