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"AMERICAN GIRL" Tops "AMERICAN BOY" in TTAB 2(d) Clothing Confrontation

American Girl came out on top of American Boy in this Section 2(d) battle of the sexists. The Board found the mark AMERICAN BOY for "clothing, namely, shirts, pants, tops, sweaters, sweatshirts and suits" likely to cause confusion with the well-known AMERICAN GIRL mark registered for various clothing items, including shirts and pants. Applicant argued that AMERICAN is a very weak formative but the Board deemed the marks, as a whole, to be confusingly similar. American Girl, LLC v. Barry Epstein, Opposition No. 91169029 (May 28, 2009) [not precedential].The Board began with a consideration of Opposer's claim that its AMERICAN GIRL mark is famous for dolls and accessories and that this fame "extends to clothing." Opposer began using the mark in 1986 an has sold 123 million books and 14 million dolls, released three movies, and licensed the mark for greeting cards, wrapping paper, etc...continue to full post

Full post as published by The TTABlog on June 11, 2009 (boomark / email).