{"id":260,"date":"2017-05-24T15:46:26","date_gmt":"2017-05-24T19:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/?p=260"},"modified":"2017-05-26T09:47:57","modified_gmt":"2017-05-26T13:47:57","slug":"there-are-few-absolutes-in-likelihood-of-confusion-apparently-fame-isnt-one-of-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/?p=260","title":{"rendered":"There are Few Absolutes In Likelihood of Confusion; Apparently Fame isn&#8217;t one of Them"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cafc.uscourts.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/opinions-orders\/16-1089.Opinion.5-22-2017.1.PDF\">Joseph Phelps Vineyards, LLC v. Fairmont Holdings, LLC<\/a>, [2016-1089](May 24, 2017), the Federal Circuit vacated a TTAB decision denying cancellation of Fairmont&#8217;s Reg. No. 4213619\u00a0on the mark ALEC\u00a0BRADLEY STAR INSIGNIA for cigars, brought by Joseph Phelps Vineyards, owner of Reg. No. 1123429\u00a0on the mark INSIGNIA for wines.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/insignia.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-261\" src=\"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/insignia.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"464\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/insignia.jpg 300w, https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/insignia-194x300.jpg 194w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>In the eyes of the Federal Circuit, the TTAB&#8217;s error was in completely discounting fame as a factor once it determined that the mark was not famous. \u00a0As a result of this error, the Board did not\u00a0properly apply the totality of the circumstances standard,\u00a0which requires considering all the relevant factors on a\u00a0scale appropriate to their merits.<\/p>\n<p>Although the TTAB correctly acknowledged that fame for confusion purposes<br \/>\narises as long as a significant portion of the relevant\u00a0consuming public recognizes the mark as a source\u00a0indicator,\u00a0the TTAB applied a legally incorrect standard in applying<br \/>\nan all-or-nothing measure of \u201cfame,\u201d more akin to\u00a0dilution analysis than likelihood of confusion analysis.<\/p>\n<p>The Federal Circuit found that the record shows appreciation by consumers and the wine\u00a0market of Vineyards\u2019 INSIGNIA brand, and concluded that it was error to\u00a0refuse to accord any \u201cfame\u201d to Vineyards\u2019 INSIGNIA\u00a0mark. The Federal Circuit concluded that the factor of \u201cfame\u201d warrants reasonable weight,\u00a0among the totality of the circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>It is not clear from the Opinion what upsets Joseph Phelps Vineyards\u00a0about Fairmont Holding&#8217;s\u00a0ALEC\u00a0BRADLEY STAR INSIGNIA mark. \u00a0Joseph Phelps Vineyards&#8217; registration already co-exists with a registration on <strong>COACH INSIGNIA<\/strong> for wines (Reg. No.\u00a01394292, which is incontestable) and a registration on <strong>BAHIA INSIGNIAS<\/strong> (Reg. No. 4,604,938). \u00a0Even with fame properly considered as a factor, Joseph Phelps Vineyard may not get the result it is seeking.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Joseph Phelps Vineyards, LLC v. Fairmont Holdings, LLC, [2016-1089](May 24, 2017), the Federal Circuit vacated a TTAB decision denying cancellation of Fairmont&#8217;s Reg. No. 4213619\u00a0on the mark ALEC\u00a0BRADLEY STAR INSIGNIA for cigars, brought by Joseph Phelps Vineyards, owner of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/?p=260\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-likelihood-of-confusion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=260"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265,"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260\/revisions\/265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}