Find Lawyers in Nashville, Tennessee for Trademark Law
Practice Area Overview
A mark is deemed protectable if it is distinctive, meaning that it is capable of identifying the source of a particular good. In determining whether a mark is distinctive, trademark law uses four separate classifications based on the relationship between the mark and the associated product: (1) arbitrary or fanciful (marks such as KODAK® and APPLE® that bear no inherent relationship to their associated products); (2) suggestive (marks such as COPPERTONE® that evoke a characteristic of the associated products); (3) descriptive (marks such as HOLIDAY INN® that directly describe a characteristic or feature of the associated products); or (4) generic (terms that describe the general category of the associated products, e.g., “phone,” “keyboard,” etc.). The first two categories of marks are protectable without proof that they have acquired distinctiveness in the minds of consumers, while descriptive marks require evidence that the consuming public has come to associate the term with its specific source. Generic terms are never protectable as trademarks, as they are necessary for general identification of a particular product category.
Once a trademark owner has acquired protectable rights in a mark, it may enforce its rights by preventing the use and/or registration of all subsequent infringing marks. The standard for infringement in the United States is “likelihood of confusion,” which means that consumers viewing the respective marks on their associated products are likely to be confused as to the source of those products or as to the sponsorship or approval of such products. In other words, determining infringement is not as simple as merely comparing the marks to see if they are identical; rather, courts will employ a multifactor test. While the precise factors vary slightly by jurisdiction, courts generally consider the following elements: (1) the strength of the plaintiff’s mark; (2) the relatedness of the goods; (3) the similarity of the marks; (4) evidence of actual confusion; (5) the similarity of marketing channels used; (6) the degree of care exercised by the typical purchaser; (7) the defendant’s intent; and (8) the likelihood of expansion of the product lines.
Protecting and enforcing trademarks is critical to the success of any company. Trademarks allow consumers to distinguish a company’s products and services from those of its competitors, and also serve as indicators of the quality of such products and services. Indeed, many companies’ trademark portfolios constitute the majority of the value of their businesses. Please consult with an experienced trademark lawyer to explore how to best to protect your company’s trademarks.
Tara Aaron-Stelluto is a partner in the Nashville office of Barton LLP, where she practices in the areas of Intellectual Property, Business Transactions, Cybersecurity, and Artificial Intelligence. Tara helps her clients optimize and protect their most valuable asset – their intellectual property. She focuses on domestic and foreign trademark clearance, prosecution, licensing and enforcement; domain name and UDRP proceedings and other ex parte proceedings against online infringers; copy...
A.J. Bahou is Bradley's Artificial Intelligence (AI) practice leader and an intellectual property attorney who focuses on the intersection of law and technology. A registered patent attorney, trial lawyer, mediator and arbitrator, he has extensive experience in the areas of electrical and computer engineering technologies, including artificial intelligence, virtual reality, medical devices, computer hardware, blockchain, software, and internet security systems. With 20+ years of experience, A...
Mr. Beavers' practice focuses on counseling corporate clients regarding the protection and management of their intellectual property assets, especially patents and trademarks, both in the United States and internationally. Mr. Beavers has 30 years experience in the practice of intellectual property law. He served as General Counsel to Gibson Guitar Corp. from 1995 to 1997. He has filed and prosecuted over one thousand patents in the mechanical arts. Mr. Beavers' current practice is heavily fo...
Michael B. Bressman is Of Counsel with the firm. Additionally, he serves as Professor of the Practice of Law at Vanderbilt Law School, where he has taught a variety of courses such as Contracts, the Law of Cyberspace, and Art Law. Michael directs the law school’s clerkship program, which supports students and graduates applying for post-graduation judicial clerkships. With a career spanning more than 25 years in premier law firms, as in-house corporate counsel, and as a professor at one...
Mr. Johnson’s practice focuses on business transactions, entertainment law, intellectual property, and complex commercial litigation. Mr. Johnson regularly handles copyright and trademark applications, intellectual property licensing, entertainment transactions, and corporate transactions. His clients include music licensing companies, tech companies, and various other businesses, for which he serves as a business advisor and outside general counsel. He also has extensive experience in ...
Ryan D. Levy is the managing shareholder at Patterson Intellectual Property Law and co-chairs the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. He is an accomplished litigation attorney focusing on complex patent disputes in a variety of technologies, including industrial and automotive machinery, chemical, medical devices, and software ranging from web-based protocols to automated detection systems. Ryan has a wide range of litigation experience before federal district courts, the U.S. Internation...
Richard Myers is a Registered U.S. Patent Attorney. His practice focuses on patent-related aspects of intellectual property, including counseling clients on patent infringement, patent validity, and patentability. He has more than two decades of experience with the patent prosecution process. As a former patent examiner and an attorney in the private sector, he has examined or prosecuted over 600 patent applications. With an academic background in chemistry, Richard's practice primarily focus...
Mr. Patterson is an experienced patent practitioner and trial attorney. His primary practice involves the writing and prosecution of patent applications in the electrical, electronic, and computer software arts including business methods; patent, trademark and copyright counseling, including preparing validity and infringement opinions; licensing; and litigation in all areas of intellectual property law. He has assisted clients in obtaining over 200 U.S. patents. From 1973 to 1977 Mark Patter...
Phil Walker focuses his practice on intellectual property counseling, including the procurement and enforcement of patents, trademarks, and copyrights. He counsels his clients on the economic benefits and implications of intellectual property protection and litigation. Phil advises his clients in the evaluation and protection of complex technologies, including inventions in the mechanical, medical, telecommunications, optical, materials, chemical, computer software and Internet business arts....
Alexandra Badalamenti is an intellectual property attorney whose practice focuses on media and entertainment transactions. Alexandra represents artists, musicians, image creators, and innovators in production, fashion, music, and media. Alexandra counsels her clients on a variety of matters, including brand partnerships, commercial endorsements, music festivals, experiential activations, talent representation, licensing partnerships, and literary publishing.
Alex Huffstutter is a registered patent attorney who focuses his practice on electrically based patent prosecution and mechanically based patent prosecution. Licensed to practice in Tennessee and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, his experience includes recent technical innovations in electrical engineering, graphene synthesis, and hydroponic inventions for the burgeoning cannabis industry. Alex also prosecutes design patents for clients operating in a range of industries.
Casey Miller represents clients in a variety of commercial litigation and dispute resolution matters. She has a diverse practice focused on business tort litigation, contract disputes, fiduciary-duty claims involving corporate directors and officers, intellectual property litigation, securities litigation, disputes over non-compete and non-solicitation agreements, and real estate litigation. She practices in both state and federal courts across the country. Casey also represents organizations...
Jake Neu is your attorney for any intellectual property counseling need. Jake’s clients trust him across a wide range of IP matters involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets for protecting anything from retail consumer products to software and websites. With this broad background, Jake acts as outside IP general counsel for a number of his clients who do not have an in-house IP counsel. For those with IP counsel, Jake provides advice on the latest strategies for prote...
Keaton Osborne’s practice focuses on commercial finance and intellectual property. In his commercial finance practice, Keaton assist lenders and borrowers in a variety of commercial lending transactions, such as acquisition financings, asset-based loans, and real estate development and construction loans. In the last 12 months, he has closed over $1 billion in commercial finance transactions. Keaton also counsels clients on trademark clearance, registration and enforcement in a variety ...
Farrah Usmani advises recording artists, songwriters, entertainment executives and companies in the music industry. She is well-versed in helping artists grow their careers while maintaining creative control and ownership of their intellectual property. Further, she has substantial experience structuring tour deals in the concert business. Farrah is admitted to practice in Tennessee and is a provisionally licensed lawyer in California. She is not fully licensed in California and is supervised...
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