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Trademark infringement can tarnish your brand

The damage caused by trademark infringement does not always completely encompass a hit in direct sales. In fact, every sale that someone makes while using a trademarked image or logo is a sale that you may be losing if that customer believed they were actually buying from you. However, trademark infringement damage can go even deeper than that.

The issue is that branding confusion can lead customers to believe they have legitimate products, even after the initial sale and use. Even if those products are of inferior quality — most knock-off products are — they can still tarnish your brand if the consumer continues to believe that it is your legitimate product. You may have spent years or even decades on branding. Your image is incredibly important. If someone damages that image, it can cost you numerous sales and hurt your reputation for years to come.

Remember, customers do not always extensively research the products they buy. Consumers may never even learn that they have purchased a fake product. They may just think that the product wasn’t worth the money and vow never to buy from your company again. You’ve lost that potential customer forever, due to nothing that you actually did.

The aforementioned scenario is called dilution. The issue is that your famous mark has a certain amount of value and strength in the market. The illegal use of the same or similar mark by counterfeiters lowers that value and diminishes what your own branding is worth. That’s not fair to you, and the damaged caused by trademark infringement goes way beyond one single sale or the lost income from that sale.

As you can see, trademark infringement is very serious and can undo everything you’ve worked for. Be sure you stay updated onall of your legal rights.