Category Archives: Trademarks

Recent E.D. Pa. Case: No “Likelihood of Confusion” from Competitor’s Marks in AdWords

by Christina Frangiosa

In CollegeSource, Inc. v. AcademyOne, Inc., Civ. A. No. 2:10-cv-03542 (MAM), slip op. (E.D. Pa. Oct. 25, 2012), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania analyzed a claim of trademark infringement based on the purchase and use of a competitor’s trademarks in AdWords to increase search engine results. (The case dealt with other issues such as contract formation under Pennsylvania law, trademark cancellation due to fraud on the PTO, false advertising, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and others. This blog post will focus solely on the AdWords issue.)
 
The court ultimately concluded that in an environment of increasingly sophisticated Internet advertising, a claim of trademark infringement based on the use of a competitor’s marks in sponsored links fails, when those marks do not appear in the actual advertisement and when the advertisements are set off in a separate section of the search results (under the heading “Sponsored Links,” set off with a different color than the rest of the search engine results). In these cases, modern Internet users are unlikely to be confused by this type of use.

In order to prove trademark infringement and unfair competition under the Lanham Act, plaintiffs must demonstrate that they own the mark in question, that the mark is valid and legally protectable, and that the defendant’s use of its own mark is likely to create confusion. Id. at 39 (citing Checkpoint Systems, Inc. v. Check Point Software Tech., Inc., 269 F.3d 270, 279 (3d Cir. 2001)). In the CollegeSource case, the defendant did not dispute the ownership of the mark or its validity, but instead challenged whether its mark was likely to create confusion.

The Lapp Factors

In the Third Circuit, the likelihood of confusion analysis is governed by Interpace Corp. v. Lapp, Inc., 721 F.2d 460, 463 (3d Cir. 1983) – the so-called “Lapp Factors.” These factors are: 

(1) the degree of similarity between the owner’s mark and the alleged infringing mark;
(2) the strength of the owner’s mark;
(3) the price of the goods and other factors indicative of the care and attention expected of consumers when making a purchase;
(4) the length of time the defendant has used the mark without evidence of actual confusion arising;
(5) the intent of the defendant in adopting the mark;
(6) the evidence of actual confusion;
(7) whether the goods, though not competing, are marketed through the same channels of trade and advertised through the same media;
(8) the extent to which the targets of the parties’ sales efforts are the same;
(9) the relationship of the goods in the minds of consumers because of the similarity of function; and
(10) other facts suggesting that the consuming public might expect the prior owner to manufacture a product in the defendant’s market, or that he is likely to expand into that market.
 

Id. at 463. Originally adapted from Polaroid Corp. v. Polarad Electronics Corp., 287 F.2d 492, 495 (2d Cir. 1961), these factors were applied in the Lapp case for the very limited purpose of considering likelihood of confusion where the products did not directly compete. Id. at 462-63; see also A&H Sportswear, Inc. v. Victoria’s Secret Stores, Inc., 237 F.3d 198, 206 (3d Cir. 2000) (“In Interpace Corp. v. Lapp, Inc., 721 F.2d 460, 463 (3d Cir. 1983), this Court established a ten-factor test (the ‘Lapp’ test) to determine the likelihood of confusion for direct confusion claims between goods that do not directly compete in the same market, but we have never decided what factors should be considered in the case of directly competing goods.”). 

In a later opinion, the Third Circuit applied these factors more broadly, including in cases where the goods competed in the same channels of trade. A&H Sportswear, 237 F.3d at 207 (“Though a court need not look beyond the marks when goods are directly competing and the marks virtually identical, we conclude that the factors we have developed in the noncompeting goods context are helpful tools and should be used to aid in the determination of the likelihood of confusion in other cases.”). The Third Circuit made clear, however, that the “ten-factor Lapp test [was developed] only as a guide” and the Lanham Act does not require that each of the ten factors must be evaluated in every case. Id.

Application of the Lapp Factors to Use of Competitor’s Trademarks as AdWords
   
In the CollegeSource case, the court relied on a Ninth Circuit opinion that identified the “key” factors to consider in cases where the goods directly compete and where a competitor’s trademarks were purchased as AdWords to generate search engine hits. Id. at 40 (discussing Network Automation, Inc. v. Advanced Sys. Concepts, Inc., 638 F.3d 1137, 1154 (9th Cir. 2011). Specifically, the Network Automation case held that in the context of AdWords cases, four of these factors were most relevant: “[1] strength of the mark, [2] evidence of actual confusion, [3] types of goods and degrees of care likely to be exercised by the typical purchaser, and [4] the labeling and appearance of the advertisements.” Network Automation, 638 F.3d at 1154.

The CollegeSource court agreed with this conclusion, and focused primarily on these four factors in determining whether the defendant’s use of the mark was likely to confuse. CollegeSource, No. 2:10-cv-03542, slip op. at 41. With respect to the first two factors, the CollegeSource court concluded: 1) the plaintiff’s mark (COLLEGESOURCE) was suggestive and commercially strong; and 2) plaintiff failed to provide significant evidence of actual confusion. Id. at 40-43. The court addressed the last two factors in reverse order, but these two provided the crux of the court’s analysis.

With respect to factor 4 (labeling and appearance of the advertisements), the court focused on the placement of ads in search engine results, noting that these ads are generally partitioned under a section of “sponsored links” and appeared separately from regular search results, sometimes in shaded boxes. Id. at 43-44. The plaintiff’s mark did not appear in the language of the advertisement. In this context, the court concluded that the offset of sponsored ads decreased the likelihood of confusion. Id.
With respect to factor 3 (types of goods and degrees of care exercised by typical purchasers), the court considered “whether an ordinary consumer seeking college transfer information via the Internet is expected to exercise diligence in his research.” Id. at 44-45. The court concluded that Internet users are exercising increasing care as the “novelty of the Internet evaporates and online commerce becomes commonplace.” Id. at 45. “Modern Internet users ‘are accustomed to such exploration by trial and error.'” Id. This increasing level of experience with search sites (i.e., the increasing sophistication of the targeted consumer) decreases the likelihood of confusion with respect to Internet advertisements like these. Id.

The Court continued to evaluate the remaining Lapp factors, finding that there was no evidence of an intent to confuse, that the Internet is not an obscure marketing channel, and that AdWords are an increasingly prolific form of advertising. Id. at 46-49. The Court ultimately concluded that plaintiff failed to introduce sufficient evidence to demonstrate a likelihood of confusion; the Court then granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment on the trademark infringement claim.

U.S. PTO Seeks Comments on Draft Examination Guide on Webpage Specimens

by Christina Frangiosa

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has released a draft version of its examination guide on webpage specimens, and seeks user comments before releasing it in final form. The U.S. PTO reports that comments will be accepted through October 31, 2012, using its online collaboration tool, IdeaScale®.
 
You can also leave comments on the following other sections: The Format of the TMEP; Chapter 500 Change of Ownership; Chapter 900 Use in Commerce; Chapter 1900 Madrid Protocol and the subject of this particular notice: Webpage Specimens as Displays Associated With the Goods (including subsections: Webpage Specimens as Displays Associated With the Goods; Webpage as a Display Associated with the Goods; Picture or Description of the Goods; Show the Mark in Association With the Goods; Ordering Information; Grounds for Refusal; and Appendix: Examples of Webpage Display Specimens).

The U.S. PTO maintains a list of its recent requests for user comments, which can be found here: http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/notices/user_input.jsp.

A Study in Counterfeiting Remedies – Denmark’s Approach

by Christina Frangiosa


This is the first in a series of articles on remedies considered for online counterfeiting and piracy, in light of the dismantling of the proposals set forth in the Protect IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) from earlier this year. For more on PIPA and SOPA, please see the prior posts on these topics.

The purpose of these articles is to explore potential ways to combat online counterfeiting and piracy, and in particular the type of counterfeiting and piracy that occurs overseas, but is directed at a U.S.-based audience. The most notable example in recent months is Megaupload, which has been taken down in a cooperative effort of seven countries. (For more on the Megaupload take-down, visit The Guardian (UK)’s Megaupload Page and the US Department of Justice’s news release announcing the indictment. For more about the U.S. Immigrations and Customs enforcement take-downs, see ICE’s news releases about its intellectual property enforcement efforts.)   

However, cooperative effort across borders is only possible with countries that share the U.S.’s protection of intellectual property rights. Not all countries do. So, what are trademark and copyright owners to do to protect their IP rights in the online world, where geographic borders mean very little?

This series will examine enforcement efforts in other countries as an illustration of possible enforcement mechanisms that might be available, depending on how new legislation on this topic might be written.

Danish Maritime & Commercial Court Decision

A few days ago, Norsker & Co. (a Danish law firm) posted an article about a recent case, Hublot SA Geneve v. Bronsztejin in the Maritime and Commercial Court (May 3, 2012). According to the article, Danish purchasers ordered counterfeit Hublot watches from a Chinese online service. They paid Dkr$2,250 (USD $2,664.41) for these five watches. When the watches arrived at Danish customs, they were seized, pending proof that they had been purchased for private use. The purchasers did not provide such proof and the counterfeits were destroyed. 

The court then punished the purchasers of these counterfeit watches, by assessing monetary fines and destroying the counterfeit watches. There does not appear to be any action taken against the sellers or any other entities in the distribution chain. The purchasers were required to pay the Danish Customs Office’s cost to destroy the counterfeit goods (Dkr2,500 = USD $438.34), damages for the trademark violation (presumably paid to the trademark holder) in the amount of Dkr5,000 (USD $ 859.49) and “costs” (presumably the court costs) in the amount of Dkr15,500 (USD $ 2,664.41). (Currency converter used here was accessed on May 22, 2012).

As a result, it appears that in Denmark, the courts have chosen to punish the purchasers of the counterfeit goods, and not the intermediaries in the distribution chain. The summary did not mention any other defendants – such as the payment processor who processed the credit card payment, or the shipping service that carried the goods across borders.

Future Articles

The articles to follow in this series will consider enforcement mechanisms imposed in other countries – and perhaps competing types of enforcement within the same jurisdiction – to see what other enforcement possibilities have been considered. Please note that I take no position on the effectiveness or fairness of any of these measures, but instead am collecting a laundry list of possible sanctions and targets of those sanctions for research purposes.

SOPA – Dying on the Vine?

by Christina Frangiosa


I, for one, hope not. While we in the intellectual property law community may differ as to the best method to combat foreign online counterfeiting and piracy, the basic fact is that this type of theft is not currently enforceable using existing U.S. law. The conduct itself is illegal under the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. § 1116(d)) and the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. §§ 501, 512, 1201), and rights holders today can enforce these rights against U.S. based infringers. However, obtaining jurisdiction over a foreign entity is the challenge that bills like SOPA, PROTECT IP and OPEN are aiming to address.

In light of the online protests – in the form of site blackouts – that occurred on January 18, 2012, both the Senate and the House have tabled their bills pending additional communications with the technology community to find solutions that the community can support. (Note that the OPEN Act is proceeding under a different format – and appears to be continuing on its path to a vote.)

PROTECT IP Act – Current Status

The Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 (“The PROTECT IP Act”) (S. 968) had been scheduled for cloture (see prior post explaining process) on January 24, 2012. Sen. Harry Reid has confirmed that the vote has been postponed. A new date has not yet been set.

In announcing the postponement, Sen. Reid made the following statement (emphasis added):

“In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday’s vote on the PROTECT I.P. Act.
    There is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved. Counterfeiting and piracy cost the American economy billions of dollars and thousands of jobs each year, with the movie industry alone supporting over 2.2 million jobs. We must take action to stop these illegal practices. We live in a country where people rightfully expect to be fairly compensated for a day’s work, whether that person is a miner in the high desert of Nevada, an independent band in New York City, or a union worker on the back lots of a California movie studio.
    I admire the work that Chairman Leahy has put into this bill. I encourage him to continue engaging with all stakeholders to forge a balance between protecting Americans’ intellectual property, and maintaining openness and innovation on the internet. We made good progress through the discussions we’ve held in recent days, and I am optimistic that we can reach a compromise in the coming weeks.” (Jan. 20, 2012)

Sen. Leahy issued several public statements just before – and in the wake of – the Jan. 18 protests:

SOPA – Current Status

The Stop Online Piracy Act (“SOPA”) (H.R. 3261) was the bill most clearly targeted by media coverage and the Internet blackouts in the last few days. The bill is currently on hold, and no hearings are currently scheduled to finish the markup process, in which a Manager’s Amendment had been proposed, followed by several amendments to it. The amendments would have modified the Manager’s Amendment, which would then be introduced formally as a new version of SOPA.

Rep. Lamar Smith, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, similarly issued several press releases on SOPA recently that explain further the progress of this bill through the Committee:

  • Dec. 15: SOPA Has Strong Support
  • Dec. 16: Markup Shows Strong Support for SOPA
  • Jan. 13: Smith to Remove DNS Blocking from SOPA
  • Jan. 14: SOPA Meets White House Requirements
  • Jan. 17: Stop Online Piracy Act Markup to Resume in February
  • Jan. 19: OPEN Act Increases Bureaucracy, Won’t Stop IP Theft
  • “The problem of online piracy is too big to ignore. American intellectual property industries provide 19 million high-paying jobs and account for more than 60 percent of U.S. exports. The theft of America’s intellectual property costs the U.S. economy more than $100 billion annually and results in the loss of thousands of American jobs.  Congress cannot stand by and do nothing while American innovators and job creators are under attack. 
        The online theft of American intellectual property is no different than the theft of products from a store.  It is illegal and the law should be enforced both in the store and online.
        The Committee will continue work with copyright owners, Internet companies, financial institutions to develop proposals that combat online piracy and protect America’s intellectual property.  We welcome input from all organizations and individuals who have an honest difference of opinion about how best to address this widespread problem.  The Committee remains committed to finding a solution to the problem of online piracy that protects American intellectual property and innovation.
        The House Judiciary Committee will postpone consideration of the legislation until there is wider agreement on a solution.”

The House Committee on the Judiciary maintained an Issues page on its web site focusing on rogue websites. Among other things, the website contains an article entitled, “Dispelling the Myths Surrounding SOPA,” which provides a cogent summary of the arguments in favor of the SOPA bill.

 OPEN Act – Current Status

The Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (“the OPEN Act”) was introduced in the Senate by Senator Wyden on December 17, 2011 as S. 2029. A nearly identical version (with minor changes) was introduced by Rep. Issa in the House on January 18, 2011 as H.R. 3782. At present, the bills have been referred to committees for further consideration. The House bill has been “[r]eferred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.” Status Report for H.R. 3782.

Most recently, Sen. Wyden made the following public statements:

Similarly, Rep. Issa, the Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has issued a few public statements, but the OPEN Act was only introduced in the House six days ago, leaving him little time to comment in the interim:

CONCLUSIONS

It appears, therefore, that the debate about the right mechanism to combat foreign online piracy and counterfeiting is not completely off the table, although it is hard to imagine the PROTECT IP Act or SOPA proceeding unaltered. Any debate on the issue – regardless of what bill is associated with the debate – will raise questions of effectiveness of the solution, ability to enforce the bill, if enacted, against foreign entities, and whether there is unintended harm that must be avoided. At base, however, this is a problem that warrants a legislative solution.

Common Questions: So You’re Starting a New Business, How Do You Protect your Brand?

by Christina Frangiosa

In addition to the other concerns you may have about starting a new business, you will also be deciding how to brand your new products or services. Perhaps you’ve had a team of people working on identifying a good brand name – perhaps you’re working on it yourself. Either way, you want to make sure that no one else adopts the same (or substantially similar name) and competes with you. How do you do this?

Choosing a Name

From the perspective of telling the public what you do in as few words as possible, perhaps you’ve picked a very descriptive name – such as Women’s Clothing, Inc. (if you sell women’s clothing), on the theory that people will come to you for your products if they can see automatically what you sell. However, from the perspective of developing a unique brand name that your customers and competitors will come to associate with only your products or services, you really should create a name that does not describe or suggest what products/services you provide , or serve as a generic term for them. Good examples of strong marks are Kodak for photo paper or Google for Internet searching services.

In the trademark world, if you’ve made up the name completely from scratch, and there’s no descriptive quality to the name, you can develop a very strong brand which will allow customers to think of you automatically when seeing your mark. You are also more likely to be able to achieve federal trademark registration and to keep others from trying to trade on the good will you develop if they use a name that is confusingly similar to yours.

Protecting Your Mark

Protecting your valuable trademark requires a multi-pronged approach. Under current trademark law, you obtain trademark rights under “common law” the moment you begin using the mark in commerce in connection with certain goods or services. There are benefits to federally registering your trademark (such as the availability of treble damages for willful infringement of a registered mark, ability to obtain “incontestable” status after five years, etc.), so consider whether applying for registration makes sense for you.

There are also things you should do to police your mark: for instance, you should research what new products or services your competitors are delivering, and what new brand names they may use. You should periodically search both the Internet and any relevant trade periodicals that are important in your industry to ensure that no one else is using marks that are similar to yours for similar products or services. You should also periodically search the USPTO database to ensure that no competing applications are filed covering similar marks or goods/services. You can engage a commercial search service (such as Thompson Compumark or CT Corsearch among others) to watch for new applications for a fee.

A recent study by the Secretary of Commerce confirms that trademark owners are obligated to police their markets to ensure that infringement does not occur, but the report also suggests that any single enforcement tool may not be enough on its own. Similarly, recent cases suggest that you cannot delegate this burden entirely to a third party, but instead must rely on a variety of enforcement tools. Tiffany v. eBay, Civ. A. No. 08-3947, 600 F.3d 93 (2d Cir. April 1, 2010) (rejected on appeal by the U.S. Supreme Court (see also this explanation)). In that case, Tiffany tried to hold eBay liable for accepting listings of counterfeit products that appeared to be Tiffany knockoffs. This case has been read to require that eBay would be obligated to take down any listings that were demonstrably counterfeit and about which the rights holder complained. And, while it had every incentive to remove counterfeit products it learned about, it was not responsible for pro-actively policing new listings to ensure that no further knockoffs were listed. This, instead, is the burden of the trademark owner.

Where to Go for Further Information

The US Patent and Trademark Office has some good resources to get you started in determining what creation and enforcement options may be right for you. You can also contact a trademark attorney for advice. Several bar associations for trademark attorneys are the American Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Law Section, International Trademark Association, Intellectual Property Owner’s Association and the American Intellectual Property Law Association. Each of these organizations provides information relating to trademark law that may be of interest to you.