SANDS, TAYLOR & WOOD COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. THE QUAKER OATS COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant., 978 F.2d 947

Summary

Plaintiff filed suit against defendant, contending that defendant's use of the term "thirst aid" in its advertising slogan infringed plaintiff's registered trademark for THIRST-AID. Defendant appealed the district court's order of summary disposition and award of damages. In affirming in part, the court agreed that defendant could not prevail on its fair use defense as it used the contested term as a trademark; specifically, defendant's use of the term created an impression that the slogan was uniquely associated with its product. Further, the strong association between defendant's product and the term "thirst aid" created by defendant's ads was likely to create confusion, and plaintiff was not required to show any actual confusion to prevail. In reversing in part, however, the court concluded that, in the absence of defendant's bad faith, the district court erred in awarding profits and remanded for a reasonable redetermination.