Opinion ID: 4019039
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Similarity of advertising media

Text: Controlling law also requires that we compare the parties’ advertisements and the audiences they reach. Sovereign Military, 809 F.3d at 1188. “The greater the similarity, the greater the likelihood of confusion.” Id. (quotation and alteration omitted). Our cases do not require identity of advertising methods; “the standard is whether there is likely to be significant enough overlap in the [audience of the advertisements] that a possibility of confusion could result.” Frehling Enters., 192 F.3d at 1340. 37 Case: 15-11509 Date Filed: 07/26/2016 Page: 38 of 50 The district court found that there was minimal overlap in the audience of the two schools’ advertising. Even though both parties advertise in the same types of printed publications, the court found that there was no evidence that any of the readers of FIU’s publications were likely to also read magazines or other publications in which FNU advertises. However, the court found one aspect of overlap in the parties’ advertising methods: both FIU and FNU advertise on the same South Florida radio station, WLRN, a National Public Radio member station. The court adjudged this overlap sufficient to create some likelihood that the same consumers would be exposed to both schools’ marks, but, again, found this factor to merit little weight in the overall scheme of things. Again, the district court’s assessment was a reasonable one. The key question in assessing similarity of advertising media is whether the parties’ ads are likely to reach the same audience. The evidence tended to show substantial overlap in the types of advertising methods used by the parties (magazines, Internet banner ads, and print media), but, as far as we can tell, the only evidence of overlap in the audience was in the radio advertisements. Accordingly, the district court reasonably concluded that this factor weighed only slightly in favor of finding a likelihood of confusion.