BAKERSFIELD, CA – A federal appeals court ruled that POM Wonderful LLC can try to stop a rival from selling a pomegranate-flavored energy drink labeled “pom.” This ruling is a reversal of a lower court ruling in the trademark lawsuit.
Reuters reports that the lower court ruling by U.S. District Judge Margaret Morrow said that POM was unlikely to show that shoppers would be confused by the rival products and was unlikely to succeed.
The federal appeals court said that Morrow erred in ruling that the public was unlikely to be confused between POM Wonderful’s “POM” trademark and the use of “pom” by Pur Beverages of Pennsylvania, according to Bloomberg.
“The district court’s likelihood-of-confusion finding leaves us with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed,” Circuit Judge David Ebel wrote.
He then directed Morrow to consider if POM deserved a preliminary injunction because its absence might cause irreparable harm to the company.
Reuters quotes Joseph Klapach, POM’s lawyer, as saying the decision recognized “the extremely broad rights associated with POM’s nationally know character mark. This is an important ruling that will protect trademark owners and consumers alike.”
Congratulations on this victory, POM!
