Nobody Likes A Bully

Slowly, the wicked anti-competitive abuses of the legal system by companies such as Intel Corporation are coming to light.

Exposure has been slow because trademark law is esoteric and does not command the public spotlight very often. But an untold number of small businesses have suffered this bullying.

Sooner or later, the aggressors will have to pay the costs of bad publicity.

Authorities are beginning to sniff around in this polluted, odoriferous recess of the business environment.

The U.S. Trademark Technical and Conforming Amendment Act of 2010 includes a provision that the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, shall conduct a study on “the extent to which small businesses may be harmed by litigation tactics by corporations attempting to enforce trademark rights beyond a reasonable interpretation of the scope of the rights granted to the trademark owner."

Have you been a victim? Here's your chance to be heard:

http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/bullies_survey.jsp