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Corporate Counsel Likelihood of Confusion

Jones Day

UK Supreme Court Holds Post-Sale Confusion is Relevant for Establishing Trade Mark Infringement

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The Court ruled that the post-sale context can be relevant when establishing similarity between trade marks....more

Harris Beach Murtha PLLC

Fourth Circuit Confirms: Physical Distance Does Not Avoid Trademark Confusion

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a decision confirming that using similar names for businesses in the same industry can result in a likelihood of confusion despite the physical distance of the entities. In...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Trademark Case Shows Infringement Is Often in the Eye of the Beholder — Federal Court Rules in Favor of Beauty Company’s “Dupe”...

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Conventional notions of trademark law suggest that emulating a popular product or service carries certain legal risks. However, a recent federal ruling highlights the complexities of trademark infringement cases involving...more

Goodwin

Second Circuit Sees Eye to Eye With Warby Parker in Trademark Google Ads Dispute

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While it has become common practice to bid on or purchase a competitor’s trademark to use as a search engine keyword, there remains some confusion about when such practices create liability for trademark infringement....more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

No Confusion From Keywords: Federal Courts of Appeals Help Defendants Facing Trademark Suits on Paid Search - Kattison Avenue |...

In October 2024, both the US Courts of Appeals for the Second and Ninth Circuits issued published decisions that rejected trademark infringement claims based on advertising in keyword searches. While not precedent-breaking,...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Federal Circuit Turns the Burden on Trademark Owners to Prove Identical Third-Party Marks Are Not in Use

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In Spireon, Inc. v. Flex Ltd., No. 2022-1578 (Fed. Cir. June 26, 2023), the Federal Circuit took a surprising turn in which it held that it is the trademark owner’s burden to prove that identical third-party marks put forth...more

Goodwin

MetaBirkins Post-Trial Ruling Clarifies Line Between Trademark Infringement and Free Expression and Grants Broad Injunctive Relief

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On Friday, June 23, 2023, Judge Jed Rakoff issued a highly anticipated decision, permanently enjoining artist Mason Rothschild from selling “MetaBirkin” NFTs, which depict furry, digital versions of the Hermès signature...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

I Know That Brand . . . Or Do I? Reviewing the Eleventh Circuit’s Likelihood of Confusion Analysis

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed and remanded a district court’s summary judgment ruling finding no likelihood that consumers might be confused as to any relationship between competitors operating in...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Intellectual Property Law: Looking Forward to 2023

With the continuing advancements of cutting-edge technologies — such as genome editing (CRISPR) and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) — U.S. courts will have a full docket of challenging IP cases throughout 2023. Below are some of...more

Sunstein LLP

The Long Arm of Trademark Law: Where do we draw the line?

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Can a United States court really award tens of millions of dollars in damages for violation of US trademark law under the Lanham Act where the conduct at issue did not even take place in the United States? According to a...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Blood May be Thicker than Water, but is it Thicker than Federal Trademark Rights? One Family’s Relationship Tested at the USPTO

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​​​​​​​Slovenian-born Luka Doncic became a professional basketball player at the young age of sixteen years old and the towering height of 6’7”. He quickly made a name for himself, leading his Spanish team Real Madrid to the...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Federal Circuit Court Denies "Lehman Brothers" Trademark for Whiskey

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on June 1, 2022, issued an order in favor of Barclays Capital Inc. (Barclays) in relation to its opposition to a trademark application for LEHMAN BROTHERS. The court affirmed...more

Smart & Biggar

Canadian Trademark Law 2021: A Year in Review

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2021 offered many lessons to Canadian trademark owners including: reminders of the challenges of enforcing inherently weak trademarks and the importance and benefits of registering IP rights at the Canadian border. As well,...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Doc Martens Gives the Boot to Likelihood of Confusion Expert in Trade Dress Dust-Up

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We’ve discussed a number of cases lately where flimsy consumer surveys were tossed out as unreliable under Daubert. This latest installment presents a slightly different twist....more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Confused? How Do You Factor That?

Considering the eight-factor likelihood of confusion test, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court’s finding on all factors, concluding that two competing marks in the transportation...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Eye Don’t: No Counterfeiting Without Likelihood of Confusion

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Referring to the act of counterfeiting as “hard core” or “first degree” trademark infringement, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for the first time confirmed that the Lanham Act requires a likelihood of confusion...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Adidas’ All-In Dispute with Church Sheds Light on Trademark Abandonment and Failure to Function as a Trademark

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In 2005, Christian Faith Fellowship Church, a Chicago-based church group, filed two trademark applications for the mark ADD A ZERO for use on clothing, including shirts and caps that they later sold to raise money for...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

The Federal Circuit Vacates and Remands An International Trade Commission Final Determination in A Trademark-Based Investigation

• The Federal Circuit issued a rare precedential decision in an appeal from a trademark- and trade dress-based ITC investigation. • In its decision, the Federal Circuit reiterated that the act of trademark registration does...more

Knobbe Martens

Beware! A Trademark Trial and Appeals Board Decision Can Stop You in Your Tracks

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It has been a few years since the Supreme Court decision in the case B&B Hardware, Inc. v. Hargis Industries, Inc., and we are beginning to see the aftermath in the district courts. In B&B Hardware, the Supreme Court held...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Tea Rose, Swiss Cheese and Slam Dunk Evidence of Infringement – The 9th Circuit Weighs in on Remote Geographic Trademark Users

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When two different companies adopt confusingly similar trademarks and use them in different parts of the United States, complications ensue. The adjudication of the respective rights of the parties will depend on the...more

Fenwick & West LLP

The Ninth Circuit Writes the Script on Pleading and Proving Reverse Confusion Claims

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit clarified the requirements for pleading and establishing a trademark infringement claim under a “reverse confusion” theory in Marketquest Group v. BIC, Case No. 15-55755 (9th...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark

10 Trademark Cases About Yo Mama

Anna Jarvis led the efforts to establish the first official celebration of Mother’s Day in 1908, during which she honored her own mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis, a Civil War-era social activist. But about a dozen years after...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark

U.S. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Win 4-0 Over Spanish Donuts

A decision rendered by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on March 2, 2017, affirming a General Court ruling and potentially ending a nearly twenty-year legal battle, is a reminder to trademark owners that what is generic in...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Can Internet Comments and Search Results Prove Trademark Infringement?

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You’ve selected a unique trademark, marketed and sold products under the brand, and continue to build up a base of satisfied customers. But then a new company emerges with a very similar trademark, piggybacking on your...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The Second Circuit Re-Visits Dawn Donut and the Geographic Scope of Injunctive Relief in Trademark Cases

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More than half a century ago, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an influential decision in Dawn Donut Co. v. Hart’s Food Stores, Inc., concerning the proper scope of injunctive relief in a trademark...more

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