Here at the Law Office of Vincent Miletti, Esq. and the home of the #UnusuallyMotivated movement, we take pride as a resilient and dependable legal services firm, providing such services in both a traditional and online, web-based environment. With mastered specialization in areas such as Employment and Labor Law, Intellectual Property (IP) (trademark, copyright, patent), Entertainment Law, and e-Commerce (Supply Chain, Distribution, Fulfillment, Standard Legal & Regulatory), we provide a range of legal services including, but not limited to traditional legal representation (litigation, mediation, arbitration, opinion letters, and advisory), non-litigated business legal representation and legal counsel, and unique, online legal services such as smart forms, mobile training, legal marketing, and development.

Still, here at Miletti Law®, we feel obligated to enlighten, educate, and create awareness about how these issues and many others affect our unusually motivated® readers and/or their businesses. Accordingly, to achieve this goal, we have committed ourselves to create authoritative, trustworthy, & distinctive content. Usually, this content is featured as videos posted on our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtvUryqkkMAJLwrLu2BBt6w and blogs that are published on our website WWW.MILETTILAW.COM. With that, the ball is in your court and you have an effortless obligation to subscribe to the channel and sign up for the Newsletter on the website, which encompasses the best way to ensure that you stay in the loop and feel the positive impact of the knowledge bombs that we drop here!

As the authoritative force in Employment Law, it only seemed right to introduce one of the many upcoming series where we remain persistent in introducing a variety of topics, which will look to not only educate but also deliver in a sense that only Miletti Law® can. In this regard, this is Part XV of our ongoing series on the “Fundamentals of Trademarks,” where a number of continuing blogs have been dedicated to exploring trademarks in detail & depth. In Part XIV, we started our discussion on the five key aspects of trademark enforcement, including “Dilution,” “Initial Interest Confusion,” “Reverse Confusion,” “Likelihood of Confusion,” and “Standing to Sue.” In this regard, we started with the first aspect in Part XIV under the blog titled “The Dilution Law and its Role in Trademark Enforcement” and promised to hammer on reverse confusion as the second key aspect in trademark enforcement.

Initial Interest Confusion/Reverse Confusion and its Role in Trademark Enforcement

Sometimes, the use of a given mark confuses customers that the junior user is affiliated with or the source/origin of the senior user’s products. Due to this issue, courts in many jurisdictions have used the “reverse confusion” theory in attempts to establish trademark infringement. While a larger sales volume from the junior user creates the confusion that leads to the loss of the mark’s value to the senior user, the senior user is typically much smaller than the junior user in reverse confusion cases.

Additionally, the concept of “initial interest” confusion is also closely related to reverse confusion and acts as another form of actionable infringement. Technically, “initial interest” confusion occurs when the use of a confusingly similar or identical mark by a third party is aimed at getting potential patronage and the attention of consumers. One interesting thing to note is that this form of confusion happens on the internet, where consumers are initially confused and directed to an unintended website following a search on the internet. In most cases, even if the third user ultimately corrects the confusion prior to purchase, this form of confusion is still actionable.

In the next blog and Part XVI of the series, we shall move the discussion forward by hammering on “The Likelihood of Confusion and its Role on Trademark Enforcement.”

Until then, stay tuned for more legal guidance, training, and education. In the interim, if there are any questions or comments, please let us know at the Contact Us page!

Always rising above the bar,

Isaac T.,

Legal Writer & Author.