Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 07 FEBRUARY 2006

Likelihood of Confusion vs. Reverse Confusion

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has affirmed a district court's finding of no reverse confusion, notwithstanding failure of the district court to apply the correct legal test. Freedom Card, Inc. v. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Case No: 04-3876 (3rd Cir. Dec. 22, 2005) (McKee, J).

United StatesIntellectual Property

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has affirmed a district court's finding of no reverse confusion, notwithstanding failure of the district court to apply the correct legal test. Freedom Card, Inc. v. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Case No: 04-3876 (3rd Cir. Dec. 22, 2005) (McKee, J).

Freedom Card (formerly Urban Television Network or UTN) marketed a credit card primarily to those with bad credit records under the name "Freedom Card." For several years prior, JP Morgan Chase & Co. had partnered with Shell Oil in marketing the "Chase Shell MasterCard," a rewards card for the high-end credit market. After Chase ended its relationship with Shell, it rebranded the card as the Chase Freedom Card. When UTN objected to Chase's use of Freedom Card as part of the card name, Chase halted promotion of the card. Chase subsequently filed a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that its marketing of the Chase Freedom Card did not infringe on any rights held by UTN, and moved for summary

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

See more popular content from