Trade dress over counter supplement

Market Analysis                

• Judge Rules in favor of home appliance manufacturer in license dispute

False Advertising/Confusion

• Health products company succeeds in false advertising/trademark confusion case

Secondary Meaning

• Allegation of likelihood of confusion rests on erroneous assumption of secondary meaning of lapsed mark

• Consumer confusion and secondary meaning established at trial

Trademark Confusion

• Renamed professional association results in marketplace confusion

• Fashion knock-offs result in consumer confusion

• New brand introduction in healthcare industry results in consumer confusion

• Trade dress of over-the-counter dietary supplement blurs the distinction between house and national brands

  Following the redesign of a house branded product, Mind/Share was retained during the pre-filing phase of this case to conduct in-depth consumer interviews in order to determine whether or not there was likely confusion between a national and house brands of a commonly available over-the-counter dietary supplement.  The research found a high level of confusion in which consumers believed that both house and national brands originated from the same source when in fact they did not.  Owing to the strength of the findings, the owner of the house brand agreed to a re-design of their packaging.

Search Engine Issues

• Confusion due to search engine use of trademarked terms as keywords

• Contextual marketing practices confusing to consumers

Other Issues

• License-holder violates terms of license resulting in tarnishment of brand