Consumer surveys commissioned on the likelihood of confusion for pacifiers and related products helps RIC and Learning Curve

RIC has sold SOOTHIE pacifiers since 1996 and owns the SOOTHIE trademark for pacifiers and related products. Lansinoh sued RIC, Children's Medical Ventures, and Learning Curve. RIC and Children's Medical Ventures are subsidiaries of Finnegan client Philips. Learning Curve introduced SOOTHIE baby bottles in 2006. Lansinoh claimed rights in the SOOTHIES mark since 2000 for a gel pad used during breast feeding. Lansinoh filed a preliminary injunction motion, claiming that SOOTHIE bottles infringed Lansinoh's SOOTHIES mark. In opposition, on behalf of our client, we asserted the differences in the parties' products, packaging and trade dress, the lack of actual confusion, and the defendants' priority of the SOOTHIE mark. We also commissioned several consumer surveys on likelihood of confusion. After a live hearing, the court denied Lansinoh's motion for a preliminary injunction. This case is significant because had the court issued an injunction, it would have greatly harmed both Learning Curve, which has sold millions of SOOTHIE bottles and nipples each year since 2006, and RIC as the licensor of the SOOTHIE mark.