HQ 0450725 - Trademark infringement of a registered and recorded trademark of sun glasses (Registration No. 650,499, Customs Issuance No. 90-313) - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 450725

March 20, 1991

CO:R:IT:I 450725 DRR

CATEGORY: TRADEMARKS

District Director of Customs
Laredo, Texas 78044

RE: Trademark infringement of a registered and recorded trademark of sun glasses (Registration No. 650,499, Customs Issuance No. 90-313)

Dear Sir:

This is in response to your memorandum dated January 10, 1991, forwarding the case file in a matter involving potential trademark infringement of sun glasses.

FACTS:

The record indicates that a shipment of 23,940 pair of sunglasses marked "Ray-B" in angled script is currently under seizure. They were seized pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 1595a(c) for violation of 15 U.S.C. 1124, as confusingly similar to the "Ray- Ban" trademark owned by Bausch & Lomb Inc. The trademark owner has examined two pair of the allegedly infringing sunglasses currently under seizure and submitted a written statement that they are "unauthorized, counterfeit copies of the genuine Ray-Ban sunglasses."

ISSUE:

Whether the imported sun glasses infringe the registered and recorded trademark? If infringing, is the imported merchandise counterfeit or confusingly similar?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Title 15 U.S.C. 1124 denies entry to articles bearing trademarks which copy or simulate registered trademarks recorded with Customs. The test for trademark infringement is whether the use of the suspected mark is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive. The mark "Ray-B" appears on the same type of product, sunglasses, as the recorded mark and has the overall appearance of the recorded mark. It is identical to the first five letters of the recorded mark and is written in the same style of lettering. We conclude that it is confusingly similar to the recorded mark.

HOLDING:

We find that the detained merchandise infringes the registered and recorded copyright, is confusingly similar to "Ray-Ban", and was appropriately seized under 19 U.S.C. 1595a(c) for violation of 15 U.S.C. 1124.

Sincerely,

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