A networking distributor cannot help but being blurry-eyed as he or she reads through the dense language of the policies and procedures and contractual agreements of a network marketing company. Such agreements are a close second behind insurance policies and hollow rental agreements for other detailed language. A close reading, however, will indicate that there is probably a good reason for everything, because the company is trying to set uniform standards for its representatives with respect to the sale of its products. Most of those standards are ethical standards.

And, inevitably, a good chunk of the fine print language revolves around the protection of the "trademarks" of the network marketing company. Why is this? The fact is that, apart from the actual distributor agreement, the most powerful leverage that a networking company has to enforce ethical standards of its distributors with respect to such issues as audit claims or earnings claims, is the ownership and when questioned total control of the use of its registered trademarks with respect to distributors who are promoting the business opportunity or selling the products and services of the network marketing company. If distributors are engaged in an unauthorized use of a company's trademarks, the company may charge into court and obtain an immediate injunction.

Visit www.mlmlegal.com for more information on the direct selling industry.