A trademark is an essential asset of a business that protects its individuality and prevents other brands from copying its identity. A trademark helps the goods and services of a brand stand unique among its competitor brands. Also, it prevents other brands from creating confusion among customers by producing goods and using names/logos similar to the trademarked brand. Over the years, several trademark license battles have happened between two brands that have identical names or services. Let us briefly discuss the cases of Trademark License Battles worldwide and the best practices to avoid such trademark conflicts.
Potential Challenges Related to the Trademark Registration
A trademark can be a name, logo, design, color, sound, etc., that is used by a brand to identify its goods and services uniquely. If any other brand tries to use the same or similar trademark, that is likely to create confusion among customers, and it will lead to trademark infringement. If anyone tries to use the trademark without the authorized trademark owner’s permission, it will be subjected to trademark infringement. Also, the infringing party has to pay revenue compensation and damages to the trademark owner. Even though the infringing party belongs to an entirely different field, using a trademark that sounds or looks similar to another brand’s trademark will lead to trademark infringement.
One of the major challenges involves the likelihood of confusion. If two brands have the same or similar trademarks, people will be confused about those two brands. And, there is a possibility of consumers believing that the products of those two brands are coming from the same brand.
Examples of Trademark License Battles Happened Across the World
There are several cases where two brands have had similar trademarks which led to controversy. Some of the most common trademark license battles that have happened so far are,
Louis Vuitton vs Louis Vuitton Dak
The well-known fashion brand Louis Vuitton faced a trademark infringement by a fried chicken. restaurant in South Korea, named Louis Vuitton Dak. The restaurant’s name is similar to the trademark of Louis Vuitton and also the packaging and the restaurant’s logo resemble the fashion brand’s trademarks. Even though the two brands are from different fields of business, the court has ordered the restaurant to pay a non-compliance fine of 14.5 million won and the restaurant has also changed its name to LOUISVUI TONDAK after the first ruling.
Apple Corps vs Apple Computer
Another trademark license battle occurred between two companies, Apple Corps (a music company of the Beatles) and Steve Jobs’s Apple Computer. Initially, Apple Inc (Apple Computer) agreed to pay a cash settlement to Apple Corps since the latter company was founded first. However, the conflict resumed once iTunes came into the picture. Finally, Apple Inc. agreed with the Apple Corps to buy their trademark rights and also license them back.
Starbucks vs Sambucks
The famous coffee company Starbucks faced a similar trademark battle with a coffee shop in Missouri named Sambucks. Starbucks filed an infringement lawsuit against Starbucks, as the name is similar to their trademark and may lead to confusion among customers.
Apart from the brands mentioned above, some of the other brands that battled for their trademark rights are listed below.
●Adidas filed a lawsuit against Forever21 for its three-stripe design trademark,
●American Eagle filed against Pantaloons Fashion and Retails for using a logo
similar to them,
●Marvel and DC Comics battle for the trademarked word ‘superhero’,
●Instagram asking LitterGram to remove the word ‘gram’.
Best Practices to Avoid Legal Issues Related to Trademark
If you are aiming to start a business or already own a successful business, here are some of the best practices suggested to protect your brand identity and avoid trademark-related issues. Before registering a trademark for your brand, conduct thorough research to check whether your trademark name is similar to an existing one. You should be very careful in this process because even slight negligence may lead to an infringement lawsuit against your brand and a penalty worth millions.
Never delay the trademark registration for your brand. If you want to protect your brand identity, register a trademark at the earliest and remember to renew it on time.
Also, check whether any similar trademarks are being filed by other brands so that you can take action and avoid confusion as soon as possible.
Conclusion
A trademark plays a vital role in protecting a brand name from unauthorized usage and helps brand owners establish their authority in their business. Every brand should timely monitor the newly filed trademarks to ensure the individuality of their brand. If you want to know everything about trademarks and register a trademark to protect your brand from infringement and other trademark-related legal issues, contact Brealant and book a free demo session with our IP experts!