Use It or Lose It: Can Residual Goodwill Avert Abandonment?

The notorious legal battle over the right to use the MUSTANG RANCH trademark for legal brothel services illustrates the 'use it or lose it' adage as applied to trademark rights and the difficulty of establishing an excuse for nonuse. <i>Burgess v. Gilman</i>, 78 U.S.P.Q.2d 1773 (D. Nev. 2006). Because U.S. law does not permit the warehousing of trademarks, the owner of a trademark typically must use the mark in commerce or lose the ability to prevent others from using it. For this reason, '8 of the Lanham Act requires trademark owners to file a declaration of use between the fifth and sixth year after registration and with renewals. 15 U.S.C. '1058.

18 minute readAugust 01, 2006 at 09:26 AM
By
Judith L. Grubner
Katrina G. Hull
Use It or Lose It: Can Residual Goodwill Avert Abandonment?

The notorious legal battle over the right to use the MUSTANG RANCH trademark for legal brothel services illustrates the 'use it or lose it' adage as applied to trademark rights

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