Opinion ID: 485241
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Volkswagen and VW Marks.

Text: 48 Under the Lanham Act, the right to use a registered mark generally becomes incontestable after five consecutive years of continuous use subsequent to registration. 15 U.S.C. Secs. 1065, 1115(b). When the right to use the mark has become incontestable, the infringement claim may be based on the registration, which is deemed conclusive evidence of the registrant's exclusive right to use the mark. 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1115(b); see also Union Carbide Corp. v. Ever-Ready Inc., 531 F.2d 366 (7th Cir.), cert. denied 429 U.S. 830, 97 S.Ct. 91, 50 L.Ed.2d 94 (1976). 49 The district court held under the statutory requirements for incontestability that VWAG has the exclusive and incontestable right to use the marks Volkswagen and VW for auto repair services. VWAG registered those service marks in 1966, the registration is still in full force and effect, and VWAG has used those marks continuously since the date of registration. Appellants have not argued either below or on appeal that any of the defenses available in 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1115(b) are applicable to lessen the evidentiary value of the registration. Moreover, even in the absence of federal registration, VWAG's use of the service marks created common law rights. Our holding here that appellants are guilty of service mark infringement is supported by other courts who have found other automobile service shops guilty of trademark infringement for using the phrases Volkswagen Repair and VW Repair. See, e.g., Volkswagenwerk AG v. Smith, 471 F.Supp. 385, 389 (D.N.M.1979). 50 Finally, this court is mindful of the importance of and the need to protect trademarks from infringement. The use of trademarks is designed to alert the consuming public as to the origin and source of the products. It allows the public to depend on the constancy of the quality of products it seeks. The legislative history of the Lanham Act shows that Congress intended that trade-marks should receive nationally the greatest protection that can be given them. Sen.Rep. No. 1333, 79th Cong., 2d Sess. 5 reprinted in 1946 U.S.Code Cong.Serv. 1274, 1277. Our ruling today is in the accord with that intention. 51