Intellectual Property Law

Vacating Previous Judgment, Maryland Court Finds MENSA Trademark Famous After All

By Brian Wm. Higgin

• American Mensa, Ltd. v. Inpharmatica, Ltd. et al., No. 07-3283 (D. Md filed Dec. 6, 2007); assigned to J. Quarles

     In American Mensa v. Inpharmatic, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, on a motion to vacate, issued an order (July 29, 2009) vacating its earlier final judgment that the MENSA trademark was not famous, finding good cause to do so.

     Previously, the U.S. district court had found that the MENSA trademark was not a household name like marks that have earned dilution protection, such as Hershey's, Nike, Visa, and American Express. The court had concluded that American Mensa could not prevail on a dilution claim against the defendants under the 2006 Trademark Dilution Revision Act (TDRA).  

     In its motion to vacate, American Mensa argued that recent opinions by other U.S. district courts considering the dilution question under TDRA differed from the Maryland decision. No other court, American Mensa said, has relied on 75% national recognition as a benchmark to help find that a mark is not famous. Other courts have instead rejected challenges to fame where nationwide recognition rates have been as low as 39%. American Mensa noted that due to its efforts over the last 50 years, evidence showed that MENSA has grown from an essentially unknown term to a U.S. trademark known to 55% of all adults, and also 72% of adults with college education, 83% with post-graduate education, and 85% with incomes over $100,000. American Mensa further argued that the mark is a well-known designation of verified high intelligence, and corporations seek American Mensa's permission to associate MENSA with goods and services.

     Defendants reportedly agreed to abandon their federal trademark application for ADMENSA and refrain from all future use of its trademark in any form on any goods or services, including drug discovery software and services.

Full post as published by Maryland Intellectual Property Law Blog on December 13, 2009 (boomark / email).