New York Trademark Attorney Blog
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) decided this appeal a few days ago. The Board determined that the trademark PA’DENTRO when used in connection with liquor and liqueurs namely tequila, resembles the registrant’s mark ADENTRO for wines and causes confusion and/or deceives consumers under the Trademark Act. See In re Cruz, Serial No. 86845373 (May 10, 2017) [not precedential], where the applicant was seeking registration on the Principal Register for the mark PA’DENTRO in standard characters and the Examiner refused the application under 2(d) of the Trademark Act. A likelihood of confusion analysis will evaluate the probative facts in evidence.
A likelihood of confusion analysis will evaluate all the probative facts in evidence. The two key considerations are similarities between the marks and similarities between the goods and/or services. When reviewing the likeness between the marks, the emphasis is on the general impression the average consumer will retain and not on a specific recollection. See In re Cynosure, Inc., 90 USPQ2d 1644, 1645 (TTAB 2009). In the case at bar, the Board held that the marks PA’DENTRO and ADENTRO have almost identical appearances and only have slight differences in sound. Moreover, the marks translate identically (to the English word “inside”), therefore they have the same meaning. In sum, the Board held that with respect to the marks, the similarities in sound, appearance and meaning create a similar overall commercial impression.
Next, the Board evaluated the relatedness of the goods. Keep in mind that the goods do not have to be similar or competitive to support a finding of likelihood of confusion. The goods need only be related in some manner or that the conditions surrounding the marketing permit the same persons to encounter the marks under circumstances that would give rise to a belief that the goods originate from the same source or that both goods are associated with the same producer. The Examining Attorney introduced into evidence eleven use based registrations where the registrant sells both tequila and wine under a single brand.