Opinion ID: 4019039
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Strength of FIU’s Mark

Text: The allegedly infringed mark’s strength is the second most important factor in the seven-factor balancing test. Sovereign Military, 809 F.3d at 1182. “The stronger the mark, the greater the scope of protection accorded it[;] the weaker the mark, the less protection it receives.” Frehling Enters., 192 F.3d at 1335. Our case law instructs us that a factfinder should assess the strength of a mark in two ways. See id. First, it classifies the mark as “generic,” “descriptive,” “suggestive,” or 4 FIU does not own a separate word mark for the acronym “FIU.” But abbreviations of registered trademarks, including “acronyms or abbreviations made up of the first letters of a corporate or business name,” are “just as entitled to legal protection as the original full trademark.” 1 McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair Competition § 7:18 (4th ed. 2016). “If the public has come to shorten a trademark into a nickname, then the nickname is entitled to independent legal protection as a mark.” Id. FNU does not contest that FIU’s acronym is entitled to at least some level of legal protection. 22 Case: 15-11509 Date Filed: 07/26/2016 Page: 23 of 50 “arbitrary” based on the relationship between the mark and the service or good it describes. Id. Generic marks are the weakest and are not entitled to protection -- they refer to a class of which an individual product is a member (for example, “liquor store” used in connection with the sale of liquor). Descriptive marks describe a characteristic or quality of an article or service (for example, “vision center” denoting a place where glasses are sold). Suggestive marks suggest characteristics of the goods and services and require imaginative effort by the consumer in order to be understood as descriptive (such as “penguin” being applied to refrigerators). Finally, arbitrary marks -- the strongest of the four categories -- bear no relationship to the product (e.g., “Sun Bank” is arbitrary when applied to banking services). Id. Not surprisingly, then, arbitrary marks are the strongest of the four categories. Id. at 1335-36. Then, after categorizing the nature of the mark, the factfinder considers “the degree to which third parties make use of the mark.” Id. at 1336. “The less that third parties use the mark, the stronger it is, and the more protection it deserves.” Id. A mark’s strength is enhanced if it has “incontestable” status. See id. A mark is “incontestable” if it has been registered for five years with the Patent & Trademark Office (“PTO”), its holder has filed the affidavit required by 15 U.S.C. § 1065(3) with the PTO, and the PTO has accordingly declared the mark “incontestable.” Id. “An incontestable mark is presumed to be at least descriptive 23 Case: 15-11509 Date Filed: 07/26/2016 Page: 24 of 50 with secondary meaning, and therefore a relatively strong mark.” Sovereign Military, 809 F.3d at 1183 (quotation omitted). In this case, the parties stipulated that FIU’s word mark was incontestable. The district court observed that, viewed in isolation, the terms comprising FIU’s word mark were either generic or descriptive. But, in light of its incontestable status, the court appropriately presumed that FIU’s mark was relatively strong. Nonetheless, it determined that FNU had rebutted the presumption of strength by showing extensive third-party use of the mark, explaining that FNU had identified “13 other entities using the terms ‘Florida’ and ‘University’ -- all of which are aimed at the same education marketplace as FIU.” Thus, the district court adjudged FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY and the attendant acronym to be “relatively weak.” On appeal, FIU argues that its word mark is “strong and distinctive,” challenging the district court’s conclusion on three grounds: first, FNU’s evidence of third-party use was inadequate to effect the strength of FIU’s mark; next, the trial court erred by focusing only on FIU’s mark’s “conceptual strength” and ignoring evidence of their “commercial strength”; and, finally, it could not logically have found that FIU’s mark was weak in light of the court’s subsequent conclusion that it was “famous” within the meaning of the Florida Anti-Dilution Act, Fla. Stat. § 495.151. We remain unpersuaded. 24 Case: 15-11509 Date Filed: 07/26/2016 Page: 25 of 50 For starters, FIU attacks the district court’s heavy reliance on third-party use to diminish the strength of its mark because, in its view, the evidence of third-party use was both numerically and substantively inadequate to weaken its mark. This Court has long recognized that the extent of third-party use of a mark is an essential factor in determining a mark’s strength. See John H. Harland Co. v. Clarke Checks, Inc., 711 F.2d 966, 975 (11th Cir. 1983). Indeed, we’ve said that a “strong trademark is one that is rarely used by parties other than the owner of the trademark, while a weak trademark is one that is often used by other parties.” Id. at 973-74 (quotation omitted). Thus, the number of third-party users is important, but there is no hard-and-fast rule establishing a single number that suffices to weaken a mark. Rather, in assessing the impact of third-party uses, we consider “the entire name a third party uses, as well as the kind of business in which the user is engaged.” Safeway Stores, Inc. v. Safeway Discount Drugs, Inc., 675 F.2d 1160, 1165 (11th Cir. 1982). In this case, the district court reasonably found as a fact that extensive third party use diminished the strength of FIU’s word mark and acronym. Excluding FIU and FNU, twelve other higher education institutions in the state of Florida use both “Florida” and “University” in their names (and the letters “F” and “U” in their initials): Florida A&M University (FAMU), Florida Atlantic University (FAU), Florida Christian University (FCU), Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), 25 Case: 15-11509 Date Filed: 07/26/2016 Page: 26 of 50 Florida Memorial University (FMU), Florida Polytechnic University (FPU), Florida State University (FSU), University of Central Florida (UCF), University of Florida (UF), University of North Florida (UNF), University of South Florida (USF), and University of West Florida (UWF). 5 Indeed, eleven of these twelve universities are members of Florida’s State University System, like FIU. Twelve third-party uses can be sufficient to diminish the distinctiveness of a mark. See AmBrit, 812 F.2d at 1539 (affording lesser protection where 8 third-party users in the same market employed similar trade dress); see also El Chico, Inc. v. El Chico Café, 214 F.2d 721, 725 (5th Cir. 1954) (finding 27 instances of third-party use of “Chico,” “El Chico,” and similar names “for various products and articles” was sufficient to classify “El Chico” mark as weak); Homes & Land Affiliates, LLC v. Homes & Loans Magazine, LLC, 598 F. Supp. 2d 1248, 1261 (M.D. Fla. 2009) (finding “widespread third-party use” based on 18 instances). Considering the frequency of third-party use and in context, it seems to us that FIU operates in a crowded field of similar names. Looking at the full name the third parties use, see Safeway Stores, 675 F.2d at 1165, all twelve of the other universities use two of the three words that FIU uses in its name. And five of them have three-word names that differ by only one word, and acronyms that differ by 5 The district court said that there were thirteen such universities, presumably because it included FIU in its total. 26 Case: 15-11509 Date Filed: 07/26/2016 Page: 27 of 50 only one letter. And in considering the “kind of business in which the user[s] [are] engaged,” id., we cannot help but observe that all of these similarly named businesses operate in the same general field that FIU occupies: post-secondary education. Moreover, all of the third-party users are located in, and target customers in the same general geographic area: Florida. In fact, one of them -- Florida Memorial University -- operates in Miami-Dade County, along with FIU and FNU. These factors amply support the district court’s determination that FIU operates in a crowded field of three-word university names that involve the words “Florida” and “University,” and that these names, therefore, are not particularly distinct to consumers. There was nothing in the record to suggest that potential students and others were prone to distinguish FIU’s name from the others in this crowded field. Accordingly the district court’s conclusion was reasonable. Next, FIU claims that the district court erroneously disregarded evidence of its mark’s “commercial strength,” evaluating only its “conceptual strength.” Conceptual strength evaluates a mark’s placement on the spectrum of marks (arbitrary or generic), whereas commercial strength measures the marketplace’s recognition value of the mark. 2 McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair Competition (“McCarthy”) § 11:83 (4th ed. 2016). It is surely true that focusing solely on conceptual strength is an “incomplete” method of analysis, since we are also required to examine “the marketplace strength of the mark at the time of 27 Case: 15-11509 Date Filed: 07/26/2016 Page: 28 of 50 litigation or at the time registration is sought.” Id. Thus, as we’ve explained, “even if [a] mark initially was weak, it may . . . subsequently acquire[] strength through [its owner’s] promotional efforts.” John H. Harland, 711 F.2d at 974 n.13. Indeed, an initially weak mark “may, by reason of subsequent use and promotion, acquire such distinctiveness that it can function as a significant indication of a particular producer as source of the goods with which it is used.” Id. (quotation omitted). “Determining the strength of any mark requires weighing either or both circumstantial evidence of advertising and promotion and direct evidence of consumer recognition, such as by a survey.” 2 McCarthy § 11:83. The practical problem with FIU’s argument, however, is that FIU didn’t offer any direct evidence of commercial strength. To be sure, FIU has spent substantial time, energy, and effort in promoting its mark, and has continually educated students over the past 50 years under the name FIU. The parties stipulated that FIU spends approximately $15 million annually on marketing and community outreach and engagement efforts, including advertising and promoting its mark through its athletic programs, radio advertisements, its website, and by publishing FIU Magazine. But, in isolation, evidence of promotion efforts is not sufficient to establish a mark’s commercial strength because it tells us precious little about the efficacy of those efforts in creating marketplace recognition of FIU’s mark. Absent comparative evidence establishing that FIU has spent 28 Case: 15-11509 Date Filed: 07/26/2016 Page: 29 of 50 substantially more on advertising than its competitors in the field of higher education, or “direct evidence of consumer recognition,” 2 McCarthy § 11.83, FIU’s promotional efforts do not establish that its mark has acquired “such distinctiveness that it can function as a significant indication of a particular” university among others in the same market. John H. Harland, 711 F.2d at 974 n. 13 (quotation omitted). There simply was not sufficient evidence of commercial strength in the record to require the district court to ignore the substantial thirdparty usage.6 FIU also claims that the district court reached inconsistent conclusions when, on the one hand, it found that FIU’s word mark was relatively weak but, on the other hand, in a subsequent assessment of FIU’s state law trademark dilution claim, determined that the mark was “famous” within the meaning of the Florida Anti-Dilution Act, Fla. Stat. § 495.151. Florida’s anti-dilution statute provides a cause of action for owners of marks that are “famous in [Florida]” against defendants whose “use of a mark or trade name . . . is likely to cause dilution of the distinctive quality of the famous mark,” and it lists eight non-exhaustive factors that the courts should consider in determining whether a mark is famous. Id. § 6 Evidence of commercial strength would likely have been particularly important in this case. For example, it’s difficult to imagine a more generic name for a university in Florida than “University of Florida” or “Florida State University,” but few people who have turned on a television on a Saturday afternoon would think that those names lack recognition in the marketplace of post-secondary education. 29 Case: 15-11509 Date Filed: 07/26/2016 Page: 30 of 50 495.151(1). As the district court recognized, courts interpreting Florida’s antidilution statute have concluded that to be “famous” a mark must be very strong and distinctive. See, e.g., MPS Entm’t, LLC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., No. 11-24110-CIV, 2013 WL 3288039, at  (S.D. Fla. June 28, 2013) (“To be ‘famous’ in the context of a trademark dilution claim, ‘[t]he mark must have a degree of distinctiveness and strength beyond that needed to serve as a trademark; it must be ‘truly prominent and renowned.’” (quoting HBP, Inc. v. Am. Marine Holdings, Inc., 290 F. Supp. 2d 1320, 1338 (M.D. Fla. 2003)); accord 4 McCarthy § 24:104 (“A trademark cannot be ‘famous’ unless it is ‘distinctive,’ but it can certainly be ‘distinctive’ without being ‘famous.’”). In discussing FIU’s dilution claim, the court found that FIU’s marks were famous based on FIU’s “longstanding and widespread use of the marks . . . combined with [their] federal registration.” We agree with FIU that the district court’s fame finding is in some tension with its conclusion that FIU’s word mark is “relatively weak,” particularly because the main factor the court relied on in finding that the mark was relatively weak -- the extent of third-party use -- also cuts against a finding of fame. See Fla. Stat. § 495.151(1)(g). But we don’t think this flaw in the court’s reasoning proves that there’s anything erroneous about the court’s ultimate conclusion that FIU’s mark was weak. The district court only referenced three of the statutory factors in 30 Case: 15-11509 Date Filed: 07/26/2016 Page: 31 of 50 support of its fame finding -- duration and extent of use, duration and extent of advertising, and federal registration -- and ignored the other five factors identified by the state legislature in the statute. See id. § 495.151(a) (distinctiveness of mark in Florida); id. § 495.151(d) (geographic area in which mark is used); id. § 495.151(e) (trade channels); id. § 495.151(f) (degree of recognition); id. § 495.151(g) (third-party use). Moreover, the district court may not have fully considered whether FIU’s mark was famous because, as we explain below, it concluded that FIU’s dilution claim failed for other reasons. Quite simply, the district court’s brief and unnecessary analysis of FIU’s mark’s fame does not cast a long shadow on the rest of its careful analysis. In sum, we can discern no clear error in the district court’s finding that FIU’s word mark is relatively weak. However, relatively weak marks are still entitled to a narrow range of protection. See John H. Harland, 711 F.2d at 975. Therefore, we are also obliged to examine the other six factors in order to determine whether, as a whole, the district court’s likelihood-of-confusion determination was sound.