Infringement of Trade Mark

[ozbus]

New York

Hello, I operate a business located in Australia. I own a trade mark which is registered in the USA. Recently I discovered that another person was using our registered mark. Their defence is that they state they were using it one year prior to my registration. In fact I can show that i used the mark "online" internationally prior to their stated use date. They do not have a registered business. They attempted to have our mark reversed but abandoned and the TTAB ruled in our favour with prejudice. I have engaged a law firm to seek compensation for continued use. The defendant filed for Summary Judgement and due to the lack of information the Judge ruled against them. We have now sought Discovery and the due date has expired. We are now at the point of seeking a motion to compel and we have a pretrial status conference due mid december.

1. Question - should the conference continue if discovery has not eventuated?

Also I am extremely concerned that my representation is not looking after my best interests and I fear I am constantly being overcharged or proceeding down a path whereby it benefits my lawyer more than myself. This is compounded by the fact I was recently billed 20min @peak rate for 3 one line emails requesting a time to talk with my lawyer. I feel i am now committed to proceed but disillusioned by the process and feel it is not worth continuing, or changing representation. I also need to vent. Is this the norm for charges? It seems that every move, call, email no matter what the purpose seems to attract charges.
If anyone has gone through this process I would be extremely grateful for their advice. Thank you

 

[quincy]

New York

Hello, I operate a business located in Australia. I own a trade mark which is registered in the USA. Recently I discovered that another person was using our registered mark. Their defence is that they state they were using it one year prior to my registration. In fact I can show that i used the mark "online" internationally prior to their stated use date. They do not have a registered business. They attempted to have our mark reversed but abandoned and the TTAB ruled in our favour with prejudice. I have engaged a law firm to seek compensation for continued use. The defendant filed for Summary Judgement and due to the lack of information the Judge ruled against them. We have now sought Discovery and the due date has expired. We are now at the point of seeking a motion to compel and we have a pretrial status conference due mid december.

1. Question - should the conference continue if discovery has not eventuated?

Also I am extremely concerned that my representation is not looking after my best interests and I fear I am constantly being overcharged or proceeding down a path whereby it benefits my lawyer more than myself. This is compounded by the fact I was recently billed 20min @peak rate for 3 one line emails requesting a time to talk with my lawyer. I feel i am now committed to proceed but disillusioned by the process and feel it is not worth continuing, or changing representation. I also need to vent. Is this the norm for charges? It seems that every move, call, email no matter what the purpose seems to attract charges.
If anyone has gone through this process I would be extremely grateful for their advice. Thank you

You need to discuss all of this with your attorney. If you feel your attorney is not representing your best interests, you have the option of replacing him with an attorney who will.

Here is a link to the New York State Bar Association's Rules of Professional Conduct: http://www.nysba.org/professionalstandards/

Attorneys charge different rates. Whether what your attorney is charging you is out-of-line with other attorneys in New York with similar experience in the same practice area is something I can't tell you. You can look at DR 2-106 [1200.11] Fee for Legal Services in the above link.

Good luck.