Monthly Archives: March 2017

You Can’t Fake Confusion; “STEAK” is different from “FRESH”

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The Court in Phelan Holdings, Inc. v. Rare Hospitality Management, Inc., [8:15-CV-2294-T-30TBM) (M.D. Fla. March 27, 2017), granted summary judgement that the slogan “You Can’t Fake Steak” is not confusingly similar to “You Can’t Fake Fresh.”

The Court noted that Phelan’s Pinchers Crab Shacks are bright, open air restaurants, painted in pastel colors. The walls are adorned with beachy, Florida-themed decorations, such as driftwood signs, mounted fish, large oars, and Caribbean artifacts. Phelan registered YOU CAN’T FAKE FRESH with the USPTO.   In contrast, Rare’s LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants are a chain of Western-themed casual steakhouse designed as a Texas-style roadhouse. Rare registered YOU CAN’T FAKE STEAK with the USPTO.

On summary judgment Phelan abandoned its confusion claims, asserting only a reverse reverse confusion theory.  The Court noted that Both marks incorporate the common buzz phrase “You Can’t Fake . . .,” but that the last word of each mark, i.e., Fresh vs. Steak, is completely different with a different meaning.  An important fact for the court appeared to that do not encounter either mark apart from the parties’ respective house mark.  The Court discounted Phelan’s linguistic expert because he focused on the first three words of the mark, and ignored the fact that the words “Fresh” and “Steak” are different, and did not account for the parties use of their house marks in connection with their marks,  The Court also attached a lot of significance to the differences in the parties restaurants.  The Court discounted Phelan’s survey evidence because the survey only tested forward confusion (finding between 13% and 26% confusion) , because the Phalen was asserting reverse confusion, not forward confusion.

Based on the Court’s analysis of the seven factors, Phelan failed to adduce sufficient evidence upon which a reasonable jury could find a likelihood of confusion between YOU CAN’T FAKE FRESH and YOU CAN’T FAKE STEAK.  This was despite Phalen presenting both a linguistic expert and a survey expert.  Apparently you can’t fake confusion.

 

Variations on a Theme

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A few attempts have been made to protect a “theme” rather than a specific mark. U.S. Reg. No. 4834592 protects  “a three dimensional trade dress depicting the appearance and design of the interior of a restaurant evoking a Mexican wrestling theme.”

However it is doubtful that the the protection afforded by this registration is as broad as the optimistic description.  The registrant is unlikely to be able to protect this “theme” apart from the various features depicted in the drawing.

Similarly, Reg. Nos. 4783688 and 4830189 protects the “three-dimensional trade dress configuration depicting the interior of a retail beverage store evoking the theme of an aviation airfield.”

 

Again, despite the broad reference to theme, the registered marks are not likely to be infringed unless the pictured elements are present.

 

Three Stripes and You’re Out

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On March Adidas American, Inc. sued Juicy Couture, Inc., in the District of Oregon (3:17-cv-00437), alleging trademark infringement, unfair competition, trademark dilution, deceptive trade practices, and breach of contract.  This suit comes just a few weeks after Forever 21, frustrated by Adidas’ efforts to eliminate stripes from clothing, sued Adidas calling Adidas a “trademark bully.”

Juicy Couture arguably has three stripes on its clothing, but the stripes are not all the same, whether this is different enough to avoid a likelihood of confusion remains to be seen:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not all enforcement efforts are legitimate, but neither is all enforcement bullying.

 

To The Relief of Seargants Everywhere, Forever 21 Challenges Adidas’ Three Stripe Marks

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On March 3 Forever 21, Inc. sued Adidas American, Inc. in the Central District of California (2:17-cv-01752) asking for a declaration that its clothing decorated with stripes does not infringe Adidas’ trademarks, and suggesting that Adidas is a trademark bully:

Looking at the examples identified by Forever 21 (no doubt carefully chosen), one might sympathize with Forever 21’s frustration:

Forever 21 alleges that Adidas has sued clothing and footwear manufacturers who have used two stripes, four stripes, stripes with multiple widths and colors, and it has even sued over garments that Adidas is not known for making.  Feeling deprived of the ability to enjoy “an unfettered right to design and sell clothing with ornamental, decorative striped designs” and to the relief of seargants everyone, Forever 21 seeks a declaration that its striped clothing does not infringe any trademark rights owned by Adidas.

Trademark owners often feel compelled, if not required, to pursue any colorable infringement, lest third party uses interfere with the likelihood of confusion or likelihood of dilution analyses when there is a use of more serious concern.  Moreover, there is little protection from the victims of aggressive enforcement.  Sometimes an overly aggressive enforcer will catch the attention of the internet, and be shamed into behaving, but this is not typical.  The courts’ application of the Octane Fitness case to trademark cases offers some relief from frivolous claims, but only for those who have the resources to defend the litigation, and this doesn’t happy too often, for true bullies rarely pick on someone their own size.

While most infringement defendants probably regard the plaintiff as a bully, the majority of enforcement efforts are driven by a genuine concern about protecting the mark. However there are instances where trademark owners bullying third parties, asserting claims far beyond what their actual rights protect.  There are not many effective remedies when this occurs, but if certain trademark owners are not more careful, the problem may be addressed for example with more robust fair use defenses or other measures that could make enforcement more difficult or less certain.

 

 

 

Trademark Scammers Abound

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There are still a number of entities out there trying to trick trademark owners into spending money to list their marks in various on line and print directories by sending official looking invoices and other paperwork.  In the last month, one client received ten such solicitations, from six different entities:

  • IP Direct International Patent & Trademark Directory
  • Patent & Trademark Office
  • Patent & Trademark Bureau
  • International Catalogue of Trademarks
  • TPP Trademark & Patent Publications
  • GLOPAT Global Patents & Trademarks

The practice is so pervasive, that this same client also received a warning letter from the UK Intellectual Property Office, warning about “unofficial trade mark renewal services” and identifying two such agencies in particular:

  • Patent and Trade Mark Agency Limited
  • Trade Mark Renewal Services Limited

Not only to trademark owners have to watch out for infringers, they need to watch out for scammers as well.

Fictional Magazine Accused of Real Infringement

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The Sporting Times LLC has sued Orion Pictures, inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc., and others because of the depiction of a  publication titled The Sporting Times in trailers for, and in the actual movie, Spaceman — a biopic about baseball player Bill “Spaceman” Lee.  What isn’t immediately apparent from the Complaint is that the periodical depicted is fictional.  It is not the plaintiff’s publication, it bears a fictional date nearly two decades before plaintiff’s first issue.

Plaintiff complaints that it is being injured because its trademark has been infringed, and The Sporting Times is negatively portrayed as a publication that venerates and promotes over- the-hill athletes with serious addiction problems—the sort of sensationalist story that it would by all means avoid as it is the antithesis of the clean cut girl or boy next door image it actively promotes.

Plaintiff does use a similar presentation of “The Sporting News” on its website, and apparently used SPORTING NEWS in Old English script in the past:

although the current presentation is quite different:

Plaintiff has to prove that defendant’s use of a similar title in a fictional publication briefly shown in a movie is an infringement, and the rest of us have to remember that even a fictional product can be accused of infringement.