Trademark Infringment Basics

The test for Trademark Infringement is the ‘likelihood of confusion’.

If you believe someone has infringed on your trademark, contact a Trademark or Business Attorney to file an injunction against the use.

There are eight factors the Court considers:

5 most important:
1. the similarity in the overall impression created by the two marks (including the marks' look, phonetic similarities, and underlying meanings);
2. the similarities of the goods and services involved (including an examination of the marketing channels for the goods);
3. the strength of the plaintiff's mark;
4. any evidence of actual confusion by consumers;
5. the intent of the defendant in adopting its mark;
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3 other factors considered:
6. the physical proximity of the goods in the retail marketplace;
7. the degree of care likely to be exercised by the consumer; and
8. the likelihood of expansion of the product lines.

* first two are arguably the most important. The similarity of the marks is clearly an important part in establishing likelihood of confusion, but it is far from determinative. It is possible for the same, identical mark to be used in the same geographic area without any trademark infringement occurring, as long as the goods or services of the parties are sufficiently dissimilar.

Legal Intent: The goal is to protect consumers, not to protect trademarks. Therefore, even if the marks in question are quite similar but there is no real likelihood that consumers will be confused → there would be no harm.

For more information on how to obtain a Trademark, consider contacting an experienced Kirkland Small Business Attorney.