Opinion ID: 771716
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Guidance for Remand

Text: 175 If the record suggested that, under the test we have set forth, A&H could not succeed as a matter of law in a reverse confusion claim, we would be bound to explicate our reasoning and affirm the judgment of the District Court. However, we do not so conclude, and hence vacatur and remand is necessary. Inasmuch as we have clarified the law of reverse confusion in this circuit by filling the gaps left in Fisons, it will be useful to the District Court if we comment on the extent to which it needs to revisit the various issues. 176 As explained supra, the factors concerning the market, sales, and function similarity (factors (3), (7), (8) & (9)) need not be reexamined for the reverse confusion claim because the District Court has already discussed them in connection with direct confusion and there is typically no difference in the analysis of these factors for reverse and direct confusion claims. As for the actual confusion factors ((4) & (6)), the District Court did not credit the evidence proffered by A&H and, in its best light, regarded it as de minimis. A&H's evidence of actual confusion primarily supported its claim for direct, rather than reverse, confusion, see supra Section IV. G., with the only exception being the Women's Wear Daily article mentioning the introduction of the Miracle Swimsuit in the upcoming Victoria's Secret catalog. Because these incidents, though relevant to reverse confusion, are more probative of direct confusion but the District Court felt that they were too weak to support even that claim, the court may, but need not, re-examine this factor on remand.
177 When addressing the direct confusion claim, the District Court placed great weight on the presence of Victoria's Secret's housemark and disclaimer when it concluded that the marks were not confusingly similar. See A&H IV, 57 F. Supp. 2d at 168-69. However, as we explained supra, although such embellishments of the junior user's mark may still have relevance in the reverse confusion context, their weight must necessarily be reevaluated. Therefore, on remand, the District Court should reconsider the similarity of the marks in light of A&H's reverse confusion claims.
178 The District Court did not consider the commercial strength of the marks within the ambit of the reverse confusion Fisons analysis, but it functionally did as much in its threshold determination that A&H lacked sufficient economic disparity relative to Victoria's Secret to advance a reverse confusion claim. Therefore, the District Court essentially demonstrated that it weighed this factor in favor of Victoria's Secret. However, in comparing the relative commercial strengths of the products, the District Court committed clear error: Although it considered the free publicity received by A&H in determining its commercial strength, it did not consider the free publicity received by Victoria's Secret. This led to an inaccurate comparison of their relative commercial vitality. Had the court used the same calipers to measure the commercial strength of each, it might have determined that the Miraclesuit had less commercial strength relative to The Miracle Bra. Of course, the court might well deem the difference unimportant, but we cannot say that either Victoria's Secret or A&H should have this factor weighed in its favor as a matter of law. 179 Furthermore, the court should have also considered the conceptual strength of the Miraclesuit mark, according to the standards for conceptual strength set forth in Sections IV. B and V.B.3, supra. In so doing, the court must gauge the strength of the Miraclesuit mark and must consider whether--as with the example set forth supra involving a doll with the mark Exxon--the Miracle Bra/Miraclesuit marks are so distinctive that, when considered simultaneously with the court's determination as to their similarities, consumers with a general awareness of The Miracle Bra swimsuit are likely to assume that the Miraclesuit is a Victoria's Secret product.
180 In its evaluation of A&H's direct confusion claim, the District Court concluded that Victoria's Secret's choice to extend The Miracle Bra mark to swimwear was for legitimate reasons, rather than out of bad faith. A&H IV, 57 F. Supp. 2d at 172. However, because it decline[d] to examine whether a likelihood of reverse confusion exists, id. at 178, the District Court focused on whether Victoria's Secret had intended to profit[ ] from the notoriety of Plaintiffs' Miraclesuit mark, A&H IV, 57 F. Supp. 2d at 173-74. The court did not specifically address the question whether Victoria's Secret, rather than intending to free ride on A&H's goodwill, instead intended to usurp it by deliberately undertaking to cause consumer confusion (and thereby destroy A&H's business identity). On remand, the District Court should consider whether its previous finding of Victoria's Secret's good faith is dispositive of the reverse confusion intent analysis, or whether further examination of this issue is warranted.