The Clash, a UK based Rock Music Band has filed a case against the Wilson Group for trademark infringement. Dorisimo Limited is the owner of the trademark “The Clash” which was formed by the band members’ years later. Wilson Sporting Group infringed the trademark rights of Dorisimo by using “The Clash” as a brand of their products. To avail remedy for the damages occurred by such infringement.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) defines a trademark as any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. The USPTO determines that a likelihood of confusion exist when both the marks are similar and the goods or services are related such that consumers would mistakenly believe that they come from the same source.
The lawsuit is filed before the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Dorisimo Limited is the owner of the United States trademark “The Clash” in classes 9, 25 and 41. “The Clash” is the name of an English rock band formed in London in the late ’70s. Dorisimo registered “The Clash” trademark in the year 2011.
DVDs featuring light music performed by a band, downloadable musical sound recordings, wristbands, sweatbands, short-sleeve, and long-sleeve t-shirts are the goods and services included in the Trademark registration. Whereas the defendant Wilson Sporting Goods is an American sports good manufacturing company. They manufactured tennis racket, bearing brand names Clash 100L, Clash 108 and Clash 98 which are available for sale on their website.
According to Dorisimo, Wilson is promoting the brand “The Clash” on various social media platforms. Further, a complaint was raised by Dorisimo raising concern regarding their production of tennis shoes by the name “The Clash” brand, so it caused confusion with the “Clash” brand of Wilson's tennis rackets. For this reason, Dorisimo alleged that the use of “The Clash” Brand amounted to infringement.
Dorisimo Limited said that it is in collaboration with Converse to sell the special-edition sneakers. Converse is a shoe company is a subsidiary of Nike. Further, the Company has licensed a song to play at certain events. Among these events is the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament. The plaintiff alleged that the fans of such tournaments will assume that the defendant's brand originated from the Dorisimo Company.
The plaintiff pledged before the Court to cancel the trademark “The Clash” of the defendants. Further, it also prayed for an instruction to destroy the “Clash” label. Additionally, they wanted a permanent injunction against Wilson, which would restrain the company from ever again using the word “Clash” on any of its products. The Dorisimo Limited claimed $ 3Million as damages for these trademark infringements.
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