Opinion ID: 560376
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Relatedness of the Services

Text: 42 The District Court's complete findings with respect to relatedness are as follows: 43 Both the plaintiff and defendant operate in the area of real estate brokerage. Plaintiff offers marketing and advertising support services for real estate brokers. Defendant renders real estate brokerage services on a non-commission or flat fee basis. Plaintiff's customers are commission real estate brokers. As a result, defendant directly competes with plaintiff's customers. 44 The findings of the District Court are literally true, although the relatedness inquiry is not so superficial as the District Court's statement implies. Courts have recognized that there are basically three categories of cases: (1) direct competition of services, in which case confusion is likely if the marks are sufficiently similar; (2) services are somewhat related but not competitive, so that likelihood of confusion may or may not result depending on other factors; and (3) services are totally unrelated, in which case confusion is unlikely. See Sleekcraft Boats, 599 F.2d at 348. These categories are helpful in gauging how important relatedness may be in the ultimate likelihood of confusion determination. 45 It is clear that Homeowners' and Specialists' services are not similar nor are they directly competitive. The companies operate at different levels in the broad real estate industry and sell to two completely distinct sets of buyers. While Homeowners and Specialists are not competitors, neither can it be said that their services are totally unrelated since both companies participate in the real estate industry. However, services are related not because they coexist in the same broad industry, but are related if the services are marketed and consumed such that buyers are likely to believe that the services, similarly marked, come from the same source, or are somehow connected with or sponsored by a common company. The question is, are the [services] related so that they are likely to be connected in the mind of a prospective purchaser? Fleischmann Distilling Corp. v. Maier Brewing Co., 314 F.2d 149, 159 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 374 U.S. 830, 83 S.Ct. 1870, 10 L.Ed.2d 1053 (1963); Wynn Oil, 839 F.2d at 1187 (relatedness exists where goods and services are similar enough that a consumer could easily assume that they were offered by same source). The District Court did not adequately consider this aspect of relatedness, which is the important inquiry in the likelihood of confusion determination.