Posts Tagged: "famous marks"

Since 2014, when a decision of the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office came into force that held trademarks could obtain “high renown” status through a specially-created procedure, there has been a marked increase in such requests in Brazil. However, this increase has also demonstrated that several marks which common sense would say that are well known and recognized by the public have been rejected due to technicalities. This article will tackle the main issues that may arise during the finding of a famous or high renown trademark in Brazil, and how to avoid them.

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California recently issued a decision in the closely watched Patagonia, Inc. v. Anheuser-Busch, LLC, 19-CV-02702 case. Here, the clothing company Patagonia sued the beer company Anheuser-Busch for trademark infringement, unfair competition, dilution of a famous mark, and cancellation of Anheuser-Busch’s various PATAGONIA trademark registrations. Anheuser-Busch moved to dismiss certain claims, including the dilution claim, for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6). The court issued a decision finding that Patagonia had adequately pled its dilution claim. The case provides trademark practitioners with insight into early case strategies when asserting and defending against a trademark dilution claim.