Recent Feedback
I have a small business selling t-shirts. One design is a dog paw with a US flag design in it. I received an email from PupGear Corp., claiming that I am infringing on their trademark. I never copied their design & mine is different from theirs. Mine is round paw pads and theirs has a different shaped-pad, but they claim it is "likely to cause confusion". They do not have a registered trademark symbol next to the small paw-flag-logo design that appears on their site. There are many very similar designs offered by different sellers on the web. Am I within my rights to request that PupGear provide me with proof of their trademark registration? If they do so & I agree to remove the design, should it settle the matter?
How much of your business is derived from the selling of this specific shirt?
Does this company have the same elements as your design, paw, flag. etc?
I haven't sold any of the shirts with this design in the history of my business. My design is a paw print with round circles containing the stars & stripes in them. You can see their design on their site: www.pupgearcorporation.com Their design has a different shaped paw pad and is located on their front page over where it says "Made in USA".
Thank you for your response and information. Yes, you can certainly request that the company provide you proof of its alleged trademark registration. In this instance, if you decide to discontinue the use of the design, it is very likely that the matter will be closed and settled as it unlikely that the company will seek any monetary damages for such s asuspect case.
However, you may wish to continue to use the design if you believe that the company's claim is weak but the downside is that it is far more expensive to litigate than to stop using the design.
Further, if the design is not generating any income, it hardly seems worth the time and money to litigate the matter unless the company attempts to seek monetary damages.
Experience: MBA, Experienced and Knowledgeable in Intellectual Property Law