Two Points To Consider When Adopting A New Brand

Two recent cases illustrate points to consider when selecting a new beauty, apparel or lifestyle brand. The first concerns the risk of reverse confusion. The second concerns geographic descriptiveness.

1. Avoid Reverse Confusion

When adopting a new brand, it is important to make sure the new brand does not infringe another company's existing trademark rights. Typically, infringement occurs when there is a likelihood of confusion between the company that adopted the new trademark (the junior user) and the company that owns an existing trademark (the senior user) such that consumers believe that the junior user's mark is associated with the senior user of the mark. "Reverse confusion" arises when the junior user is so well-known that consumers are likely to mistakenly believe that the senior user is the infringer. The reverse confusion issue recently arose in the following high-profile case.