Ninth Circuit Requires Courts to Consider More Trademark Infringement Factors

In a recent Ninth Circuit decision, the court reversed the lower court’s finding of no trademark infringement because the lower court based its holding solely on the fact that the marks were “clearly dissimilar,” and thus did not analyze the other trademark infringment factors. Although prior cases have held that courts need not analyze all of the factors, or even most of them, the Ninth Circuit held the analysis of a single factor such as dissimilarity of the marks was insufficient, and courts must analyze “other important factors.”Jada Toys, Inc. v. Mattel, Inc., 518 F.3d 628 (9th Cir. 2008).