This posting is about the recently filed trademark case Weight Watchers International Inc. v. Nestle U.S.A. Inc., 09-07964, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).<\/p>\n
MY DISCLAIMER \u2014 I have not read the complaint.<\/p>\n
Instead, I saw Joel Rosenblatt\u2019s article in the news section on the e INTA LinkedIn Group.<\/p>\n
Joel\u2019s article states that Weight Watchers sued Nestle because it\u2019s Dryer\u2019s ice cream sub-brand, SKINNY COW, improperly displays the Weight Watchers POINTS mark on the SKINNY COW packaging. So, next I looked at a package of SKINNY COW ice cream sandwhiches.<\/p>\n
It states:<\/p>\n
WEIGHT WATCHERS* POINTS=3
\n* Weight Watchers(R) and POINTS(R) are registered trademarks
\nof Weight Watchers Int\u2019l, Inc. The points provided here were
\ncalculated by Dryer\u2019s Grand Ice Cream, Inc. based on published
\nWeight Watchers information and do not imply sponsorship or
\nendorsement of those points or of The Skinny Cow(R) by Weight
\nWatchers Int\u2019l, Inc.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think this is a trademark use, especially with Nestle\u2019s disclaimer (albeit in smaller font than the Nutrition Facts,may people would need glasses or a magnifying glass to read it). If consumers actually read the language below the POINTS, then none will be confused into believing that a sponsorship or endorsement exists between Weight Watchers & Nestle. I won\u2019t speculate as to whether anyone other than curious trademark counsel actually reads that teeny, weeny disclaimer.<\/p>\n
I do think it is unfair for Nestle to benefit from using Weight Watcher\u2019s POINT system without permission. Nestle must have intended to and likely will lure customers away from Weight Watcher\u2019s by use of Weight Watcher\u2019s nutrition measurement POINTS brand. Further, presuming that Weight Watchers licenses its POINTS brand to competitors, then Nestle\u2019s unauthorized use hasthe demonstrable effect of denying Weight Watchers\u2019 licensing revenue.<\/p>\n
It will be intresting to see how this case boils down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This posting is about the recently filed trademark case Weight Watchers International Inc. v. Nestle U.S.A. Inc., 09-07964, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). MY DISCLAIMER \u2014 I have not read the complaint. Instead, I saw Joel Rosenblatt\u2019s article in the news section on the e INTA LinkedIn Group. Joel\u2019s article states…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[100],"ppma_author":[2085],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n