Opinion ID: 2657202
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Direct Evidence of Actual Confusion

Text: Hornady cites three pieces of evidence it claims exhibit actual consumer confusion regarding the source of DoubleTap’s product: (1) a “half a dozen or so” phone calls between 2009 and 2010 from customers who believed DoubleTap was one of Hornady’s TAP products; (2) a March 2012 letter from a sheriff’s office thanking Hornady for sending DoubleTap ammunition; and (3) a March 2013 comment on Hornady’s Facebook page demonstrating a customer’s confusion whether Hornady manufactured DoubleTap. Aplt. Br. 48. The district court dismissed this evidence as “de minimis,” and Hornady argues that such a determination was inappropriate on summary judgment. Id. at 49-52. “We have consistently recognized, however, that isolated, anecdotal instances of actual confusion may be de minimis and may be disregarded in the confusion analysis.” Water Pik, 726 F.3d at 1150. “[E]vidence of some actual confusion does not dictate a finding of likelihood of confusion.” Universal - 13 - Money Centers, 22 F.3d at 1535. In Universal Money Centers, we disregarded as de minimis three affidavits alleging confusion, including two by the plaintiff’s employees that they had received a number of accounts of customer confusion. Id. In King of the Mountain, we held that evidence of seven episodes of actual confusion was de minimis. 185 F.3d at 1092-93. Finally, in Water Pik, we held that four instances of consumer confusion, including a declaration by a customer that she was confused when deciding between the parties’ products, constituted de minimis evidence. 726 F.3d at 1151. Even assuming that the three instances cited by Hornady constitute some evidence of actual confusion, we agree with the district court’s assessment that a handful of instances over the ten years in which DoubleTap was in the market constitute de minimis evidence of a likelihood of confusion. Aplee. Br. Att. 16. Moreover, this “de minimis evidence of actual confusion is especially undermined in this case by the sheer lack of similarity between the marks.” Universal Money Centers, 22 F.3d at 1535-36.