Trademark Disputes

A mediator that is knowledgeable and experienced in trademark law can help the parties accurately convey their positions to the other side, and, if desired, also serve as a valuable sounding board on the strengths and weaknesses of a case that takes into account the intricacies of trademark law and knowledge of the judges and jury pool.

I have been recognized by the Florida Bar as an expert in intellectual property law for over 15 years, and have experience in litigating and mediating many of these types of disputes. 

I have also been recognized by my peers on three occasions as the Tampa area "Lawyer of the Year" in Trademark Law, and three other times as the "Lawyer of the Year" in Intellectual Property Litigation, thus assuring your client that I can bring value to the mediation process in your Florida trademark lawsuit.  

A mediator experienced in trademark law can be a real asset, as trademark disputes fall into the legal category of "unfair competition," and the difference between what is "fair" versus "unfair" is not always a clear line.  A particular act that is fair in one context may be more than unfair in another.  

Courts recognize that context is everything, and as a result, consider numerous factors -- as few as seven and as many as thirteen, depending on the court you are in -- in deciding whether a party is liable for trademark infringement.   Making matters even more complicated, the test for infringement is whether customers (or vendors, to a lesser extent) are likely to be confused by the defendant's use of a trademark.  Actual confusion is not required, so the courts are often tasked with assessing the likelihood of a theoretical event.

As a result, trademark disputes tend to involve wide-ranging discovery, and the potential for disagreement, on each of the 7  to 13 factors.  This translates into high litigation costs, which can easily run into the mid-six figures through trial.

The upside to the uncertainty and breadth of discovery that is involved in a trademark dispute is that there  are many ways for parties to resolve it, including ways in which one (or both) parties make minor changes to their businesses in order to ensure there is no likelihood of customer confusion in the future.  In other cases, however, the adoption of a different trademark -- one that is not confusingly similar to the other party's trademark -- may be necessary.

You can rely on Jim to efficiently and effectively mediate your Florida trademark case.

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