A trademark owner must control the nature and quality of goods sold under the mark. Licensing without meaningful control causes the mark to lose source significance and results in abandonment.
Contractual control provisions alone are insufficient.
Alternative Names:
Uncontrolled Licensing|License Without Quality Control
Why it Matters?
Contractual quality control provisions without actual exercise do not preserve the mark, since courts examine whether the owner in fact monitored the licensee, and evidence of inspections, sample approvals, and enforcement of standards is what establishes control. Reliance on a licensee's own quality practices may suffice where a close working relationship justified the trust, which is the exception owners invoke when documentation is thin.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Do contractual provisions preserve the mark?
What is the reliance exception?
