Businesses in New Jersey may suffer harm when their trade secrets are misappropriated. Companies may file lawsuits against people who steal their trade secrets in most cases. However, people who reveal trade secrets as a whistleblower have legal immunity under the Defend Trade Secrets Act. Companies can take steps to protect their trade secrets by implementing strategies to prevent them from being revealed.
Trademark infringement major concern for businesses
Many New Jersey companies have good reason to be concerned about trademark infringement, particularly with the challenging global environment of online sales and e-commerce. Infringement types can range from confusingly similar products sold by legitimate competitor brands to blatant counterfeits marketed for sale online with fake brand logos and imagery. One company reported that 85% of the brands it works with faced at least some problems with trademark infringement in 2019, an increase from the already high numbers of 2018 when 81% reported the same concerns. In 2017, 74% of the businesses the trademark research firm works with reported that their intellectual property had been violated.
Colors can be trademarked by companies
Companies in New Jersey and throughout the country may be able to claim a trademark over a color. For instance, T-Mobile has successfully claimed a trademark for the color magenta, and it asserted those rights in a lawsuit against an insurance company called Lemonade. A trademark is typically granted when a company has managed to use a logo, word or color in a way that distinguishes itself from the competition.
Apple Watch makers sued over possible patent infringement
New Jersey fans of the newest Apple Watch may be interested to know of a lawsuit filed against the company. The lawsuit was filed by a New York cardiologist who alleges that Apple infringed on an atrial fibrillation detection patent he filed in 2006 by using the technology he developed in their Apple Watches.
Trademark dispute over the letter "O"
New Jersey residents may be familiar with the sports video sharing platform Overtime.tv. The website, which is popular with teenage athletes and sports fans, uses a simple letter "O" as its logo. When Overtime attempted to have its logo trademarked, it became involved in a legal battle with Ohio State University.
