(Source: USPTO)
What happens when an American greeting card company, which has used the crown as a logo for seven decades, wants to use the same logo to sell jewelry?
In a trademark opposition proceeding filed with the USPTO, Rolex U.S.A. claims that Kansas City, Missouri-based Hallmark is “seeking to apply a crown mark on goods that are identical or in some way related to Rolex’s famous watches.”
Hallmark has used the crown as a logo since 1952 and filed last year a trademark registration for the logo to be used in Class 14 (jewelry). Hallmark also owns a television channel and a dozen famous brands, but it doesn’t sell watches.
Still, Rolex argues that if the greeting card company is granted a registration for its lookalike logo that extends to jewelry products, that would cause damage to the Rolex brand as it has spent “in excess of $100 million, over the past 60 years, advertising and promoting its crown design trademark” to consumers in the U.S. market.