Intellectual Property Law

How Much Should Brand Owners Spend On Trademark Lawyers?

By Marty Schwimmer

In yesterday's decision in Tiffany v eBay, the Court noted:

Notwithstanding the significance of the online counterfeiting problem, it is clear that Tiffany invested relatviely modest resources to combat the problem. In fiscal year 2003, Tiffany budgeted approximately $763,000 to the issue, representing less than 0.05 percent of its net sales for that year . . .

More specifically, Tiffany's time dedicated to monitoring the eBay website and preparing NOCIs [complaints under eBay's VeRO program) was limited. . . a paralegal . . devoted two days a week to reviewing the eBay website and answering emails from buyers and sellers involving removed listings. . . Tiffany's security manager also devoted one day a week to monitoring and reporting on the eBay website. . .

Decision, page 18.

Is 0.05 percent of net sales a lot or a little?

Is two days of a paralegal's time a lot or a little for a brand that's alleging 46,000 allleged infringements in a year?

Full post as published by Trademark Blog on July 15, 2008 (boomark / email).