nominative

Does falsely saying that someone endorses or sponsors something violate trademark laws?

Yes. Section 43 of the federal trademark law (the Lanham Act)  prohibits false or misleading representations that are “likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive as to the affiliation, connection, or association of such person with another person, or as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of his or her goods, […]

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Is parody fair use?

Parody generally is protected as nominative fair use, provided the use is not misleading. Reviews, commentaries, and parodies are usually nominative fair use. Parody might not be fair use, however, if it creates a likelihood of confusion as to the source of a product or service. In Jack Daniel’s Properties v. VIP Products , the

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What is “nominative fair use”?

Nominative fair use, in trademark law, refers to the use of another person’s trademark solely for the purpose of referring to the products or services marketed under the trademark, not as an identifier of the source of one’s own products or services. Using another company’s trademark in this way is not likely to confuse consumers

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What is “fair use” in trademark law?

Fair use is a potential defense to trademark infringement in some cases. It does not have the same meaning, and it is not assessed in the same way as copyright fair use . The two kinds of trademark fair use are (a) descriptive fair use and (b) nominative fair use.

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