Opinion ID: 3031809
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The “fair use” defense is applicable to KP and

Text: precludes a claim of infringement. 5386 KP PERMANENT MAKE-UP v. LASTING IMPRESSION I Because the district court held that the entire logo with the words “micro colors” on it was valid and protected but that the words “micro colors” were not, our first inquiry is whether the words “micro colors” themselves are protected by the registration of the mark or only the entire logo. We are aided in this inquiry by the sequence of events in the Ninth Circuit case of Park ‘N Fly v. Dollar Park & Fly, Inc., 718 F.2d 327 (9th Cir. 1983), rev’d, 469 U.S. 189 (1985). C. Protection Afforded to the Words “Micro Colors” In Park ‘N Fly, the mark at issue, which had attained incontestable status, consisted of the words “Park ‘N Fly” and an airplane logo. The alleged infringer challenged the mark’s validity arguing that the words “Park ‘N Fly” were generic with respect to airport parking lots. Id. at 330. Park ‘N Fly had a separate registration for the words “Park ‘N Fly” without the airplane logo that was not yet incontestable. In addressing the issue of whether the words “Park ‘N Fly” were generic, this court focused entirely on the words in the logo mark, which was incontestable, as opposed to words in the separate registration of the word mark. Judge Kennedy (now Justice Kennedy), in writing for the court, held that because the most salient feature of the logo mark was the phrase “Park ‘N Fly,” any infringement of the word mark registration would also be an infringement of the logo mark. Id. at 331 n.3. Thus, the opinion concluded that the words “Park ‘N Fly” were the most salient feature of the logo mark and that insufficient evidence had been presented to show the words were generic. Id. It is significant that the United States Supreme Court, upon reviewing the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Park ‘N Fly, also recognized that Park ‘N Fly had a separate registration for the words “Park ‘N Fly,” which had not become incontestable. However, it determined that such registration did not affect the resolution of the matter and focused on the incontestable KP PERMANENT MAKE-UP v. LASTING IMPRESSION I 5387 logo mark in making its ruling. Park ‘N Fly, 469 U.S. at 192 n.2. The Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit’s opinion on a different issue. The Ninth Circuit opinion had held that a registrant could not use the incontestability of its mark offensively to enjoin infringement and that a challenger could defend such an action on the grounds that the mark is merely descriptive. The Supreme Court reversed that aspect of the Ninth Circuit decision, but remanded for consideration of the challenger’s prior use defense and the defense that there was no likelihood of confusion. The remand by the Supreme Court implicitly acknowledged that it was the words “Park ‘N Fly” as the most salient feature of the logo trademark that were to be considered on remand. The Ninth Circuit on remand addressed the words of the logo trademark and affirmed the district court’s finding that the challenger did not qualify for the prior use exception and that there was sufficient likelihood of confusion to justify an injunction in favor of Park ‘N Fly. Park ‘N Fly, Inc. v. Dollar Park & Fly, Inc., 782 F.2d 1508, 1509 (9th Cir. 1986). It is clear under Ninth Circuit law, implicitly approved by the Supreme Court, that not only Lasting’s logo mark itself is protected by the registration, but also the words “micro colors” as the most salient feature of the logo mark. In Park ‘N Fly, the words were held to be the most salient feature of a logo with an airplane; whereas in this case the words in white on a black background are virtually the only salient feature of the logo. Because the words “micro colors” are the most salient feature of the mark, those words are the focus of the inquiry on validity.