Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

There is a recent case about "Pycnogenol" that teaches a valuable lesson about trademark dilution.  If you refer to a product with the brand name under which the product is sold, you risk a lawsuit from the trademark owner based on trademark dilution.  For example, there is no such product as "Pycnogenol."  There is only a brand of herbal supplement sold under the brand name "Pycnogenol." 

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James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

James,

In my previous life (as a paralegal, that is) I handled a good deal of trademark issues for a major franchisor. So, I understand what you are saying very well. My best personal example is that my husband, an IT manager, used to work for Velcro. Velcro (the company) sold hook and loop fasteners (the product). Yet, most people assume that the product, itself, is Velcro. I happen to know that Velcro USA often sought a clarification of that distinction in the courtroom.

-Kim

Yes, there are lots of good examples - kleenex, thermos, escalator, aspirin, etc..

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James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

Ah....but wouldn`t it be nice to come up with such a product, one that "everyone" so believed was the product that the name was the same thing? Imagine being Puff`s facial tissues, for example, and knowing that some majority of people "out there" ask for a kleenex, every time the point to the box of Puff`s tissues! How maddening would that be!?

If I understand it right, certain things can`t be trademarked. So vitamin-C, for instance, is just that. But...if you put a brand-name on it, like Ester-C, and formulate something that includes the vitamin and some other extraneous stuff, you can make it "appear" that your product is different from plain ol` vitamin C. Right?

brands identify sources of products, not products.

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James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

you don`t need `extraneous stuff` to apply a brand name to pure vitamin c

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James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com