Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ipplanet]

The European Court issued a decision in the case of McKinley v. McKenzie.
The dispute concerning an application for European trademark McKenzie applied for classes 18 and 25 and the earlier mark McKinley for the same classes.
According to the court the prefix Mc is common in many Scottish and Irish family names, including those used in the fashion industry. Therefore, consumers' attention will not be drawn from this element which is not dominant in the trademark.
The fact that McKinley is the name of the highest mountain in North America can not lead to confusion in consumers in the presence of Mc prefix in the later mark. Yes, and McKenzie is the name of a mountain in Australia too, but it is less known to consumers in Europe.
For these reasons it is not possible the presence of confusion in consumers in terms of both trademarks.
http://intellectualpropertyplanet.blogspot.com/2011/06/mckinley-is-not-similar-to-mckenzie.html