Infringement Despite Distance: The Bosembecker Case

In a judgment handed down on December 10, 2014, the Fifth Panel of Rio Grande do Sul’s State Court of Appeals found the mark of the defendant, Bosembecker e Cia Ltda, confusingly similar to the mark of the plaintiff’s, Bosembeckertur Agência de Viagens e Turismo Ltda’s, registered service mark BOSEMBECKER (trademark registration No. 826179452). The court ruled that the defendant’s practices constituted unfair competition against the plaintiff (Proceedings No. 0345198-89.2014.8.21.7000, Dec. 10, 2014).

Bosembecker e Cia Ltda (the defendant) argued that the two signs (BOSEMBECKER and BOSEMBECKER SANTA VITORIA DO PALMAR) were dissimilar and that there was no likelihood of confusion among the relevant public because Bosembeckertur Agência de Viagens e Turismo Ltda (the plaintiff), would be marketing its travel agency services in a different city, approximately 150 miles away from the city where the defendant is based. The defendant emphasized that it had never advertised