Opinion ID: 771716
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: 125 We recently recognized the doctrine of reverse confusion as a distinct basis for a claim under S 43(a) of the Lanham Act. See Fisons, 30 F.3d at 475. While the essence of a direct confusion claim is that a junior user of a mark is said to free-ride on the reputation and good will of the senior user by adopting a similar or identical mark, id., reverse confusion occurs when the junior user saturates the market with a similar trademark and overwhelms the senior user. Id. (quoting Ameritech, Inc. v. American Info. Techs. Corp., 811 F.2d 960, 964 (6th Cir. 1987)). The harm flowing from reverse confusion is that 126 [t]he public comes to assume the senior user's products are really the junior user's or that the former has become somehow connected to the latter. .. . [T]he senior user loses the value of the trademark--its product identity, corporate identity, control over its goodwill and reputation, and ability to move into new markets. 127 Ameritech, Inc., 811 F.2d at 964; see also Fisons, 30 F. 3d at 479; Sands, Taylor & Wood Co. v. Quaker Oats Co., 978 F.2d 947, 957 (7th Cir. 1992); Banff, Ltd. v. Federated Dep't Stores, Inc., 841 F.2d 486, 490-91 (2d Cir. 1988); Capital Films Corp. v. Charles Fries Prods, Inc., 628 F.2d 387, 393 (5th Cir. 1980); Big O Tire Dealers, Inc., v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 561 F.2d 1365, 1372 (10th Cir. 1977). As we explained in Fisons, reverse confusion protects smaller senior users . . . against larger, more e powerful companies who want to use identical or confusingly similar trademarks. 30 F.3d at 475. Absent reverse confusion, a company with a well established trade name and with the economic power to advertise extensively [would be immunized from suit] for a product name taken from a competitor. Big O Tire Dealers, Inc., 561 F.2d at 1372 (citation omitted). The doctrine of reverse confusion--or, at least, some of its applications--is not without its critics. See, e.g., Thad G. Long & Alfred M. Marks, Reverse Confusion: Fundamentals and Limits, 84 Trademark Rep. 1, 2-3 (1994); Daniel D. Domenico, Note, Mark Madness: How Brent Musburger and the Miracle Bra May Have Led to a More Equitable and Efficient Understanding of the Reverse Confusion Doctrine in Trademark Law, 86 Va. L. Rev. 597, 613-14, 621-24 (2000). 18 The chief danger inherent in recognizing reverse confusion claims is that innovative junior users, who have invested heavily in promoting a particular mark, will suddenly find their use of the mark blocked by plaintiffs who have not invested in, or promoted, their own marks. See Weiner King, Inc. v. Wiener King Corp., 615 F.2d 512, 522 (C.C.P.A. 1980). Further, an overly-vigorous use of the doctrine of reverse confusion could potentially inhibit larger companies with established marks from expanding their product lines --for instance, had Victoria's Secret thought, at the outset, that it would not be permitted carry over its popular The Miracle Bra mark from lingerie to swimwear, it might have chosen not to enter the swimsuit market at all. 128 This would be an undesirable result; in fact, it is precisely to allow a certain amount of space for companies to expand their product lines under established marks that we allow infringement suits against suppliers of noncompeting goods. See Interpace Corp. v. Lapp, Inc., 721 F.2d 460, 464 (3d Cir. 1983). This is not to say that the reverse confusion doctrine does not have its proper place; as has been recognized, without the existence of such a claim, smaller business owners might not have any incentive to invest in their marks at all, for fear the mark could be usurped at will by a larger competitor. See SK&F, Co. v. Premo Pharm. Labs., Inc., 625 F.2d 1055, 1067 (3d Cir. 1980) ([P]ermitting piracy of . . . identifying trade dress can only discourage other manufacturers from making a similar individual promotional effort.). However, these concerns do sensitize us to the potential untoward effects of an overenthusiastic enforcement of reverse confusion claims, although they cannot supersede our judicial recognition of the doctrine.