The Value of Enforcing Rights over a Potentially Famous Brand
It is well known that the value of enforcing and protecting a registered trademark, radiates in that its prestige and recognition guarantees the entrepreneurial origin of the goods or services offered to the consumer. In this way, there should be no use by unauthorized third parties.
It is this way that, since the creation of a brand, this must be registered to be protected, but then comes a “defense and monitoring strategy” to enforce the rights granted with its registry. In case of acquiring an extensive knowledge from the public, or in other words ”fame”, there will be less risk of becoming a term of common or massive use, which would lead in ”dilution” or gradual decrease in the distinctiveness of the brand, producing a futile effort and investment of resources in creating and publicizing the brand.
An example of this is the case of CrossFit, Inc., an American corporation founded by Greg Glassman in the year 2000, integrated by more than 13,000 gyms worldwide to date, with important CrossFit coaches. Crossfit® is a brand attributed to a method of high intensity exercise training, which was initially registered in the United States since the beginning of the decade of the year 2000, for services related to ”education, training, entertainment and cultural and sports activities, granted to CrossFit, Inc., in addition of being registered in the European Union, Chile and other countries around the world.
Third parties associate the term ”CrossFit” with a generic routine of sports exercises, without having knowledge that it is actually a registered trademark for several years ago, so they make improper use by not having the authorization and certification of rights. Thus, CrossFit, Inc. has had conflicts when enforcing its protection, since in many countries around the world an exact and identical reproduction of the CrossFit brand is being misused, resulting in a misunderstanding of the ”notorious” or ”famous” brand with others that includes this term.
In case such an important trademark becomes a commonly used term, it will not be an information source for the consumer about the type of product/service or entrepreneurial origin, also causing the investment of many resources for its difficult or no-recovery to trade, as an asset of the owner company.
Allow us to assist you from the beginning of its creation, first to obtain protection and then an appropriate strategy to enforce your trademarks rights, through the monitoring and surveillance of the Intellectual Property rights conferred to its owner through the registration of the distinctive sign.
Julio Vargas Solano
Managing Partner
García & Bodán
El Salvador