Intellectual Property Law

Tenth Circuit: 1-800-SKI-VAIL does not infringe VAIL service mark

By McKee, Voorhees & Sease, P.L.C.

In a decision last week, the Tenth Circuit affirmed a district court's ruling in a trademark case in favor of the defendant, finding the defendant's use of the vanity telephone number "1-800-SKI-VAIL" for marketing services relating to the ski industry was not likely to be confused with the Plaintiff's service mark registration for "VAIL" encompassing the gamut of commercial recreational activities and accompanying amenities available in and around the Town of Vail, Colorado.  In so holding, the court found no error in the district court's holding that the ordinary consumer did not associate the word "VAIL" exclusively, if at all, with the Plaintiff VA or its ski resort, and that VA's evidence of actual confusion lacked credibility.  In a spirited dissent, Judge Tymkovich argued that the totality of factors strongly confirmed that the Defendant's mark was likely to cause consumer confusion.

More detail of Vail Assocs., Inc. v. Vend-Tel-Co. after the jump.

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Full post as published by FileWrapper on February 12, 2008 (boomark / email).