The Trademark Trial & Appeal Board (TTAB) has actually turned down a hallmark application to sign up the mark PURPLE RAIN, discovering that such a mark would produce the incorrect idea of a connection with the late renowned recording artist Prince Rogers Nelson. Where a celebration looks for to sign up a brand-new hallmark with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, that registration might be opposed by other celebrations for particular factors, consisting of where the registration would trigger customer confusion or where it would produce an incorrect idea of a connection with another celebration.
JHO Intellectual Property Holdings looked for to sign up the mark PURPLE RAIN for dietary and extra energy beverages and for “Energy beverages; Isotonic beverages; Non-alcohols, specifically, energy shots, ‘Sports beverages.’” The registration of the mark was opposed by Paisley Park Enterprises, LLC and NPG Records, LLC, who, in between them declared signed up and typical law rights in the mark, in addition to rights to Prince’s image, name, and similarity.
Paisley Park and NPG provided proof revealing that the term “Purple Rain” was related to and typically associated with Prince, consisting of that PURPLE RAIN was a 13X platinum album offering countless copies around the world and was the title of an Academy-acclaimed film scored by and starring Prince.
In concluding that JHO’s mark developed an incorrect idea of a connection with Prince, the TTAB discovered that: (i) JHO’s PURPLE RAIN mark was a close approximation of Prince’s identity; (ii) that PURPLE RAIN pointed distinctively and clearly to Prince, based in part of a study revealing 66.3% of the public acknowledged “Purple Rain” as a referral to Prince; (iii) that there was no connection in between Paisley Park/NPG and JHO’s items utilizing the mark; and (iv) that customers would presume a connection to Prince since Paisley Park and NPG marketed a range of items under the PURPLE RAIN mark (although they did not offer energy beverages or supplements particularly).
In a declaration, L. Londell McMillan, Managing Member of Prince Legacy, LLC, the co-manager of the Prince estate and possessions, stated, “as stewards of Prince’s tradition, we are happy that the Board acknowledged the direct association that ‘Purple Rain’ has with Prince, and the strong probability that any 3rd party usage of ‘Purple Rain’ will produce an incorrect idea of a connection with Prince.”