Your show has been established for years, and attendees know it well. But then, mysteriously, another show pops up with a name very similar to yours. It causes confusion among prospective attendees looking for info on your show online, and presents new marketing challenges for your team. It’s a hassle, yes, but you may also have legal options to protect your brand. EXPO got the scoop from intellectual property rights attorney Dutro “Bruce” Campbell at the National Association of Consumer Shows annual convention in Memphis. Here’s an intellectual property primer.

First things first. There are three main types of intellectual property rights: patents, trademarks and copyrights. Show names fall into the trademarks category. A trademark, typically used to identify and distinguish a property, can exist in the form of a word, name, symbol or device (or a combo of any of those four).

Acquiring trademark rights. Contrary to popular belief, trademark rights aren’t acquired through registration, but through priority use. After using the trademarked name in commerce for a period of time, users can then apply for federal registration of the trademark to enhance enforcement of trademark rights.

Get specific. If you want your show’s name to be considered a trademark (and thus potentially giving you a cause for action when another show with a similar name pops up), the more specific you can be the better. Generic terms, like “home show,” and “aspirin” simply name a product or service and can’t function as trademarks. Descriptive terms, like “Denver” as part of the “Denver Home Show,” are only trademarkable once they have acquired “secondary meaning.” Secondary meaning can be achieved through long-term use or large amounts of publicity. A third category of terms, suggestive marks, are trademarkable. Suggestive marks suggest a quality or characteristic of the good or service (think: Holiday Inn or Blu-Ray) without falling back into the generic category.

Protecting yourself. If you’re concerned about that other show or event with a similar name, and a simple request to cease and desist doesn’t work, you’ll have to establish proof of trademark enforcement. To do this, you’ll have to establish ownership of a valid trademark, and a likelihood of confusion between its mark and the accused mark. To make this determination, courts will typically look at the likelihood of confusion — taking into consideration factors like similarities of the marks, the competitive proximity of the goods or services and the existence of actual confusion in the marketplace.