Trademark infringement is the violation of another's trademark rights by using the mark without authorization.
The basic test for infringement is "likelihood of confusion."
An infringing use of a trademark must be a "use in commerce."
Likelihood of Confusion
Each circuit has its own test to determine the likelihood of confusion.
There are some factors that are common to most of these tests however:
- Similarity of the marks
- Proximity of the goods or services
- Whether the products are sufficiently related in the mind of the consumer
- Strength of the plaintiff's mark
- Actual confusion
- Defendant's intent