Trademark Infringement: Is Your Brand at Risk?

If your company is found liable for trademark infringement, it can cost you more than your profits; it can cost you your brand.

That's what happened to adventure travel and eco-tour company G.A.P. Adventures. The company must change its name after it lost a trademark infringement lawsuit brought by clothing brand The Gap in the Southern District of New York. Judge Alvin Hellerstein found in a bench trial that the adventure travel company chose its brand eleven years ago knowing that consumers would associate it with The Gap, a clothing company whose founders referenced the "generation gap" when they started their company in 1969. Judge Hellerstein noted that the owner of G.A.P. Adventures expected the association between his brand and the clothing brand to grow stronger over time.

Consumer confusion between two brands is the hallmark of trademark infringement, and there was plenty of evidence of confusion in this case. Customers called the travel company's office looking for Gap clothing. Customers who asked for travel brochures admitted they had been "looking for the Gap clothes store." Employees of the adventure company were asked by friends and acquaintances whether the two companies were related. Instead of taking steps to clear up the confusion, G.A.P. Adventures dropped its tagline, "great adventure people," which had distinguished itself from the clothing company. The Canadian company opened a New York City storefront, and it sold and distributed t-shirts that bore the name "G.A.P. Adventures." The judge said that, because of its use of the word "gap," the adventure travel company gained credibility with customers.

A comprehensive intellectual-property training course may have alerted the travel company's employees that consumer confusion could endanger their employer's brand. The district court's ruling may have been different if G.A.P. Adventures had done more to differentiate itself from The Gap clothing company.

Categories: General Business Compliance
Tags: Intellectual Property, Trademarks, Patents, Copyright