Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California
trademark infringement on existing brand
If a brand is trademarked without product
in the market but intent to use, and an
existing product in the market wishes to
trademark their brand after, does one have
priority over the other due to the actual
sale of product in the market vs. just a
name trademarked with the intent to use?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: trademark infringement on existing brand
If the Mark has been filed as an intent-to-use application, the filing date of that application (in the United States) will be the priority date for the Mark. If the existing product's first use date is before the filing date of the intent-to-use application, then the existing product has superior rights.
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