Legal Question in Business Law in Massachusetts

Re: Trademark question

I doubt that they are claiming trademark rights in an image -- copyright law applies to images. You should consult with an attorney and show him the communications received from the other party, as well as the images concerned, for an analysis of your situation.

If an attorney concludes that there is no infringement and you continue to receive threats of legal action, your remedy is to commence a "declaratory judgment" action, which requests a court determination that you have no liability. This is not cheap, and would not ordinarily be done unless you believe that the other side cannot be dissuaded from suing you.

Best wishes,

LDWG

Re: Trademark question

Pictures are copyrighted not trademarked unless it was accepted as a logo. But to do that they would need the consent to exclusive use of the image.

you need to contact an attorney and have him review the letter and the research the claim. He will then be able to proceed with a reply to the company asserting the "trademark" infringement.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact me.

Re: Trademark question

As the others have responded, an image used to represent a product is a "trademark" (or "servicemark" if it represents services) but if the image is not connected to goods or services, it may be entitled to copyright protection by its creator.

Note that if your image is similar, but not identical, to the image that is being claimed, it is possible that it was independently created and not a "copy" or knockoff of the other image.

As an initial step, you might ask for documented proof (e.g. state or federal trademark registration, federal copyright registration) that they have an ownership interest in the image (whether trademark, copyright or some other ambiguous intellectual property right).

As noted, if litigation does ensue, these can get quite expensive.

Good luck!