A trademark can be diluted by the use of similar mark [Deep Research]

Last updated : Aug 5, 2022

How can a trademark be diluted?

It occurs when unauthorized use of a famous mark weakens or impairs the distinctiveness of the mark. A hypothetical example may be use of GOOGLE as a mark on toothpaste, such that consumers who previously associated the GOOGLE mark solely with the tech giant's products begin to also associate the mark with toothpaste.

What are the two types of trademark dilution?

Dilution is comprised of two principal harms: blurring and tarnishment. Dilution by blurring occurs when the distinctiveness of a famous mark is impaired by association with another similar mark or trade name.

Can trademarks be similar?

If trademarks share a common word or term, the marks may be considered similar in appearance even if one of the marks adds other letters or another word to it, especially if the added material is descriptive or suggestive of the goods or services.

What do u mean by dilution?

Definition of dilution 1 : the action of diluting : the state of being diluted. 2 : something (such as a solution) that is diluted. 3 : a lessening of real value (as of equity) by a decrease in relative worth specifically : a decrease of per share value of common stock by an increase in the total number of shares.

Which is an example of trademark dilution by blurring?

1° Dilution-by-blurring is the most common dilution claim, and occurs when a consumer views a junior, unauthorized use of a famous mark and is reminded of the more famous mark. 1 Famous examples of dilution-by-blurring include Dupont shoes, Buick aspirin, and Kodak pianos.

How do you avoid a diluted trademark?

1. Do your research. Before you settle on a name, logo, or domain name, make sure it is not already trademarked.
2. Enlist help.
3. Consider general liability insurance.
4. Register your trademark.

What is the difference between trademark dilution and trademark infringement?

Dilution is therefore different from trademark infringement, because trademark infringement always involves a probability of customer confusion, whereas dilution can occur even if customers wouldn't be misled.

What's the difference between trademark infringement and trademark dilution?

Dilution differs from normal trademark infringement in that there is no need to prove a likelihood of confusion to protect a mark. Instead, all that is required is that use of a "famous" mark by a third party causes the dilution of the "distinctive quality" of the mark.

What makes a trademark similar?

Whether one trade mark will be confused with another is dependent on a number of factors; the sound of the respective marks, the visual impression of the marks, the conceptual meaning of the marks and the type of goods or services to which the trade marks are applied, amongst many other factors.

Can two trademarks have the same name in the same class?

It goes without saying that confusion and trademark conflicts are bound to arise when the trademark names of different business entities are the same or sound similar in the same class. However, if the names only sound alike but aren't spelled alike, they can be in the same class without issues.

How do you find a similar trademark?

Before you apply, you should search the USPTO's trademark database (Trademark Electronic Search System, or TESS) to see if any trademark has already been registered or applied for that is: Similar to your trademark.

What are the types of dilution?

There are 2 main types of dilutions: simple and serial.

Has been diluted means?

What Is Dilution? Dilution occurs when a company issues new shares that result in a decrease in existing stockholders' ownership percentage of that company. Stock dilution can also occur when holders of stock options, such as company employees, or holders of other optionable securities exercise their options.

What is trademark infringement examples?

One common example of trademark infringement is where clothing manufacturers attach brand labels to generic items, attempting to have them “pass off” as authentic. Trademark infringement violations are very serious and are often involve aspects of deceptive trade practices.

Can a trademark be taken away?

You can lose a trademark in a variety of ways. You can lose a mark through abandonment. A mark will be considered abandoned if you stop using it for three consecutive years and you have no intent to resume its use. You can also lose a mark through improper licensing or improper assignment.

Can someone sue you for having a similar business name?

A trademark lawsuit will require you to prove three things: You have registered a trademark or service mark in the name. Someone else is using the same or similar name to sell similar goods and services to yours. The infringer's use of the name is confusing customers or diluting the power of your trademark.

What can you not trademark?

• Proper names or likenesses without consent from the person.
• Generic terms, phrases, or the like.
• Government symbols or insignia.
• Vulgar or disparaging words or phrases.
• The likeness of a U.S. President, former or current.
• Immoral, deceptive, or scandalous words or symbols.
• Sounds or short motifs.

What are the 4 types of trademarks?

• Generic. A generic term is a common description that does not receive trademark protection.
• Descriptive.
• Suggestive.
• Arbitrary or Fanciful.

What must a plaintiff prove to prevail in a cause of action for trademark dilution?

To support a trademark infringement claim in court, a plaintiff must prove that it owns a valid mark, that it has priority (its rights in the mark(s) are "senior" to the defendant's), and that the defendant's mark is likely to cause confusion in the minds of consumers about the source or sponsorship of the goods or ...

Can you trademark a name that sounds similar?

Even if it is spelled differently, if it sounds similar enough to your name that people could mistake the new company for your company, then you would be able to take legal action against them. So when it comes to company names, it's largely open to the interpretation of the public.

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Write a comment

a mark is considered famous if it is widely recognized by the general consuming public in the united states as a designation of the source of the goods or services of the mark's owner the mark itself does not have to be inherently distinctive a mark that has acquired distinctiveness can become a famous mark in many ways acquiring fame is similar to acquiring secondary meaning and is sometimes called super secondary meaning in addition the mark doesn't even have to be a registered mark fame in a small niche market however is not sufficient evidence of fame for a dilution claim courts consider a number of factors when deciding if a mark is famous including advertising volume and geographic reach of sales the extent of actual recognition of the mark by consumers and use of the mark in popular culture and in unsolicited media among other factors

Thanks for your comment Bradford Salvetti, have a nice day.
- Chris Liptow, Staff Member

so starting with this we have already discussed well-known trademark and there we have a lot at what is well known trademark white has been recognized so as you know well-known trademarks are the kind of exception which has been recognized for protecting the will moon branch because they have that very I mean reputation all around the world and they made that very effort so to incentivize that Vidya fir we recognize well-known trademark number one number two because there are chances that people may get advantage in the country just getting advantage of the mark which is a well known trademark because of that also will know trademark in recognized now we are dealing with trademark dilution and comparative advertising in India so what is that so dilution you just go by the etymology or you can say the generator what does it mean so what does dilution mean the aleutian means lessening or minimizing or in any way narrowing down some sort of reputation or some sort of you can say the image of a particular mark that would be considered as dilution so trademark dilution means whatever reputation has been created whatever will has been created that has be distorted or you can say minimize or adversely affected by someone who is using some other mark which have some identical you can say similarity or visible similarity to the previous bell moon trademark so the whole concept of trademark dilution was dealt before under the passing of accent because we don't have that kind of specific browser which we have now we have and that would be 9 oz forward we have incorporated the provisions relating to the trademark dilution that is why that is recognized as well as that has been taken care of and you can see the significant changes which were there when this was not included in our trade not wha so having said that there are two terms which I have used trademark dimension and comparative advertising both have to do something with some mark which which is a popular one which is a very famous one and the other one is making some sort of impact by its use so in cases of comparative advertising the competing mark suppose there is one mark the other my trademark which is used in competition is being used in a way where it is just you know describing something which is just an improvement over the previous product that is fair enough but if it is being done in a way where it impairs the image of the previous mark then that comparative advertising is to be is considered to be objects late so these are the trends which were just you know prevailing in the domain of trademark so let us start with trademark dilution as per our syllabus there are two segments which we have to take into account one is trademark dilution and contemporary areas where we will discuss the case of ITC limited versus Philip Morris products and under this next head protection of trade dress and color combinations tarnishment of trademarks comparative advertising disparagement here we will discuss a number of cases which are being elaborated just below so first start with the trademark dilution so we have to look into the history of that white has been you know ed white has been introduced what was the need so as you know there are big players in trade there are small players in trade so there are some tendencies in trade domain which are responsible for the trademark dilution provisions so first of all that there was a changing trend in business and there was a wave of globalization which allows the various companies which were a giant companies to carry their business or to introduce their business in different countries so because of that they need some protection in various countries so this was one of the reason why the provision relating to trademark vanish and was required number two expanding trademark protection beyond its traditional limits so this was another I mean a kind of tendency among those trademark holders that were pushing that their mark should not only be protected from their boundary but beyond that and this is also because they seek to have a monopoly advantage then there was an obvious reflection of the ever increasing demand for extending more and more protection to famous tree so as I said that there were some I mean prevailing forces in the form of big companies which were just you know forcing this very regime to recognize the demand for famous protection of famous trademarks and again the doctrine of territoriality as I have discussed in the case of well-known trademark it has been you know diluted because of international global trade so famous marks repetition now transcends beyond the territorial limit and it extends to even unrelated fields of activity so what is the definition of trademark that isn't that we will be coming up but it must be very clear in your mind but whenever we talk about trademark dilution some sort of famous mark on you can say when your mark is at which concern because the dilution which we are concerned with is related to the famous mass so TM dilution theory seeks to extend maximum protection to this potential capacity so the whole whole idea is to preserve the uniqueness and security of the trademark which is very important trademark of the unit so now the question comes how this dilution offers how it would be given effect so there are three moves through which trademark dilution the first one is through harnessing or you can say impairing the image that is tarnishing then in blurring creating kind of confusion or you can say making it this is distinct the digital best bloody and free writing free writing I have already explained to you in our my previous discussions that if because of certain positive externalities because that is not doing the mark is not protected significantly some other computer may take benefit of it that is termed as free doubt I mean to say you are doing something without repaying or paying that advantage to that very mark which you are using so that is 10 best free learning so now what is the definition of trademark dilution trademark dilution refers to acts that weaken the uniqueness of a famous trademark typically as a result of blurring or Douglass mentor famous MA so these two are very common the other free-writing was not that much common so unlike trademark infringement trademark dilution involves use of a mark in connection with goods or services that do not compete with those connected to the famous mark so here you have to clearly understand this thing that in case general cases of or you can say normal cases of imprint them there is no there is always a requirement that the goods and services must be identical or similar but when we talk about trademark dilution the case becomes very different because here the the requirement is that the goods or services there do not compete with those connected to the famous mark so it must be very clear this is a different exceptional case for infringement which is being described under Section 29 + 4 so far a mark to be considered famous what is the requirement it must have achieved extensive public recognition so I mean it is a question of fact you

Thanks subidasd your participation is very much appreciated
- Chris Liptow

About the author

Chris Liptow

I've studied public international law at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge and I am an expert in systems ecology. I usually feel mad. My previous job was interior designer I held this position for 24 years, I love talking about volunteering and harmonica. Huge fan of David Furnish I practice ice hockey and collect clothing and accessories.