When two businesses use similar marks, a fight feels inevitable, but litigation is slow, expensive, and unpredictable. A coexistence agreement is the alternative: a negotiated set of boundaries that lets both sides keep their marks while reducing the confusion that causes disputes in the first place. We help you decide when coexistence makes sense, negotiate terms that favor you, and draft an agreement that actually settles the conflict instead of postponing it.
Deciding Whether To Coexist
Not every conflict should be settled, and we tell you which is which. We weigh the strength and reach of each side's rights, including registration status, use history, and geography, against how similar the marks are and how related the goods or services are. Market realities, expansion plans, and customer sophistication all factor in. If exclusive rights are essential to your business, we say so before you spend time at the table.
Drawing The Boundaries
A workable agreement carves out room for both sides while cutting confusion. The lines can run by geography, by product or service category, by channel, or by customer segment, and they can cover trade dress, domain names, social handles, and advertising. Agreed differences in presentation, like distinct house marks, design elements, or disclaimers, often let similar marks live together. We shape the structure around your specific marks, markets, and growth plans.
Settling TTAB Disputes
Many coexistence deals grow out of USPTO fights, where one party opposes an application or moves to cancel a registration. Settling a TTAB proceeding through coexistence lets both marks reach registration within agreed limits, rather than one side winning everything at the other's expense. Where an examiner has refused on likelihood of confusion, a properly drafted consent agreement filed with the USPTO can clear the path. We run the whole arc from opposition through settlement to filing.
Drafting For The Future
A coexistence agreement has to anticipate what happens years out, not just today's use. We build in expansion mechanics for seeking permission to grow, enforcement provisions for handling third-party infringers, monitoring and notice obligations, and assignment and change-of-control terms so the deal survives a sale. Clear dispute resolution and termination provisions round it out. Thorough drafting now is what keeps the parties out of court over interpretation later, including across multiple countries when the conflict is international.