Seattle Mariners Torpedo Application for "M'S USA" for Clothing
The Hot Stove League remained in action over the holiday, with the Seattle Mariners finally winning something. The Mariners opposed the application of New York City's Components by John McCoy, Inc.to register the mark M'S USA" for various clothing items. On Christmas Day, the Board issued an order sustaining the opposition after Applicant had filed a voluntary abandonment of its application without consent. The Baseball Club of Seattle, Inc. v. Components by John McCoy, Inc., Opposition No.91186390.
As usual, the Mariners claimed that the applied-for mark would likely cause confusion, or create a false association, with several of their registered "M" design marks (see below). [The Mariners own a registration for the letter "S" in standard character form for caps, but not for the letter M alone.]
Do you think the Mariners would have won this opposition? What if Applicant's mark had stylized lettering that was different from that of the Mariners? Would the Mariners have opposed based on their standard character "S" registration? Would you be surprised if they did?
Text Copyright John L. Welch 2009.
posted by John L. Welch @ 12/26/2009
2 comments
2 Comments:
Well, sitting around the hot stove with the pickle barrel to my left, it strikes me that this one would have been a close game that might have gone into extra innings. Much would have depended, I think, on the strength of the registered mark(s).
In my opinion, not even close. The "M'S" win only bc the other side forfeits. I guess that's the best kind of win when it's the only way you can win.
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