The Atlanta based creators of SPANX have sued Sexy Panties And Naughty Knickers of London with a lawsuit alleging trademark infringement. The allegation is that the phonetic and visual similarity between SPANX and the abbreviation of the British Company's name i.e. SPANK, consumer confusion is inevitable.
The US TMEP in section 1207.01 discusses the factors considered to determine similarity between marks. When considering a word mark, a comparison between appearance, sound, meaning and commercial expression is done. The other important considerations would be the similarity in appearance, phonetic equivalents and meaning. The marks SPANX and SPANK have only the last letter which is dissimilar. SPANX goods include - "Clothing, namely hosiery, tights, socks, body shapers, bodysuits, camisoles, bras, panties, slips, shirts, pants, dresses, and skirts" and SPANK makes lingerie. Given that the marks are similar in appearance and sound, and the meaning in relation to the goods creates a commercial impression which is likely to cause consumer confusion - SPANX seems to have all the odds in its favor.
No comments:
Post a Comment