Enforcement and defense of brand and creative rights in infringement, dilution, counterfeiting, and DMCA disputes, in federal court, before the TTAB, and across the channels where a brand lives.
A copyright owner who registers a work more than three months after first publication, and after the infringement has begun, has given up statutory damages and attorneys' fees for that infringement. We check the registration date before anyone drafts a demand letter, because it decides whether the case is worth more than the infringer's provable profits.
Trademark law keeps its own calendar. A registration becomes incontestable after five years of continuous use once the owner files a declaration, which removes the defense that the mark merely describes the goods. Since 2020 an owner who shows it is likely to win is presumed to suffer irreparable harm, which made the preliminary injunction a realistic opening move. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board decides only whether a mark registers, never whether it may be used, so a registration fight and an infringement fight are two cases, and the Board's findings can bind the court.
We act for owners and for the accused, in court, before the Board and on the platforms where infringement surfaces, and we shape discovery around the remedy we mean to obtain.
Prosecuting and defending claims of trademark infringement, dilution, and false designation of origin, where likelihood of confusion, the strength of the mark, and the channels of trade have to be built into a coherent case.
Representation in copyright infringement matters and DMCA disputes, covering reproduction, distribution, and derivative-work claims, takedown and counter-notice practice, and safe-harbor questions for platforms and content owners alike.
Anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy enforcement through seizure relief, customs recordation, and litigation against counterfeit goods and pirated works, aimed at the supply chain rather than one seller at a time.
Oppositions and cancellations before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and proceedings before the Copyright Office, coordinated with any parallel court action so a registration fight and an infringement fight are run as one strategy.
Temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, and seizure motions to halt infringing or counterfeit use quickly, with the early evidence preservation that makes emergency relief realistic.
Repeatable enforcement programs of platform takedowns, marketplace complaints, watch and policing protocols, and litigation where it is the right instrument, so a brand is protected without reinventing the response each time.
A trademark owner likely to win on the merits is presumed to suffer irreparable harm, and that presumption is what a preliminary injunction rests on. It is rebuttable, and the usual rebuttal is the owner's own calendar: months of letters before a motion are read as proof the harm can wait for trial.
A copyright suit cannot be filed until the Copyright Office has registered the work or refused to; an application alone does not suffice. Ordinary examination takes months, and the Office will decide a claim in days for an added fee when a suit is imminent.
Nonuse of a mark for three consecutive years is prima facie evidence that it has been abandoned, and an abandoned mark cannot be infringed. Unpoliced third-party use rarely abandons a mark outright, but it narrows it: a court asked how strong the mark is will count the similar marks the owner let stand.
A registered mark or copyright recorded with Customs and Border Protection lets the agency detain and seize infringing imports without a lawsuit, and a Section 337 complaint at the International Trade Commission can exclude a foreign seller's goods on a schedule fixed at the outset. Neither forum awards damages; both stop the goods.
A platform that receives a compliant DMCA notice removes the material, but the poster may file a counter-notice, and the platform must then restore the material within 10 to 14 business days unless the owner has sued by then. A notice that knowingly misstates infringement exposes the sender to damages.
Since 2020 a trademark plaintiff may recover the infringer's profits without proving willfulness, though willfulness still weighs on the amount. For a counterfeit mark the court must treble profits or damages absent extenuating circumstances, or the owner may elect statutory damages set per mark and per type of goods before judgment.
Before any demand goes out, we pressure-test the rights themselves, meaning registration status, copyright registration timing (which governs whether statutory damages and fees are even on the table), chain of title, and specimen history, while investigators capture the infringing listings, packaging, and wayback evidence before it vanishes.
The theory of harm dictates the opening move: a cease-and-desist calibrated to settle, a DMCA takedown wave across platforms, or, for counterfeits, a sealed ex parte TRO and seizure application filed before the defendant knows a case exists, with asset freezes on payment processors where warranted.
Infringement claims proceed in federal court while the registration itself is contested at the TTAB. Oppositions, cancellations, and suspension motions run as one coordinated strategy, with survey evidence and confusion discovery shaped around the remedy we mean to obtain.
An injunction, profits award, or consent decree is converted into standing protection: customs recordation, marketplace watch protocols, and a repeatable enforcement playbook, so the next infringer meets a documented pattern of enforcement.
A trademark is only as strong as the last infringement you answered.
It is the enforcement and defense of brand and creative rights in court and before the administrative tribunals that register them. Trademark claims allege infringement, dilution or counterfeiting under the Lanham Act, which has no statute of limitations of its own and borrows the nearest state period to decide when delay becomes laches. Copyright claims allege unauthorized reproduction, distribution or adaptation of a work and must be brought within three years of the claim accruing, and the work must be registered before the suit is filed. The two bodies of law meet in trade dress, in DMCA takedown disputes and in counterfeiting cases where the knock-off copies both the mark and the artwork.
Hart David Carson LLP represents owners and accused parties in trademark infringement, dilution, and counterfeiting matters, in copyright infringement and DMCA disputes, and in trade-dress claims. The work runs from cease-and-desist and preliminary-injunction practice through TTAB oppositions and cancellations, Copyright Office proceedings, and trial in federal court, and a brand dispute is managed as one strategy across all of them.
Often, and faster than most clients expect, if the papers are ready. A temporary restraining order can issue without notice to the other side on a sworn showing of immediate and irreparable injury, lasts no more than 14 days unless extended, and is followed by a preliminary-injunction hearing. Since 2020 a trademark owner who shows it is likely to succeed is presumed to suffer irreparable harm; a copyright owner generally must prove it. In a counterfeiting case the court may also order the ex parte seizure of the goods and the records of their sale, and freeze the accounts that received the proceeds. Delay is the usual reason relief is refused.
A TTAB proceeding is an opposition or cancellation before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, the administrative tribunal at the USPTO that decides if a mark should register or remain registered. We handle oppositions, cancellations, and related Board practice, and we coordinate them with any parallel court litigation so a registration fight and an infringement fight are run as a single, coherent strategy.
Through a brand-enforcement program matched to the threat, combining DMCA takedowns and platform complaints for online infringement, customs recordation and seizure for counterfeit goods, and litigation where it is the right instrument. The aim is a repeatable process that protects the brand without litigating every infringement from scratch, with court action reserved for the matters that warrant it.
In copyright, actual damages plus the infringer's profits, or statutory damages of $750 to $30,000 per work infringed, which a court may raise to $150,000 for willful infringement or lower to $200 for an innocent one; statutory damages and attorneys' fees are available only if the work was registered in time. In trademark, the infringer's profits, the owner's damages and costs, with damages up to treble as the circumstances warrant and fees in exceptional cases. For a counterfeit mark the court must treble the award unless it finds extenuating circumstances, or the owner may elect statutory damages of $1,000 to $200,000 per counterfeit mark per type of goods, up to $2,000,000 where the counterfeiting was willful. Injunctions, seizure and destruction orders are available in both.
Enforcement and defense of patent rights in federal court, with infringement, validity, and claim-construction disputes carried through trial and appeal.
Explore →Pharmaceutical patent litigation under the Hatch-Waxman framework, the ANDA and Paragraph IV disputes between branded and generic manufacturers.
Explore →Investigations before the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Section 337 actions over imports that infringe patents, trademarks, or other IP rights.
Explore →Contested proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, including inter partes review and post-grant challenges to patent validity.
Explore →Reviewed by Jonathan D. Herpy, Sr., Senior Partner · Last updated October 2026 · Educational overview · Not legal advice
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