New Era Blocks Hip-Hop Group Pro Era’s Clothing Trademark

Athletic cap company New Era convinced a trademark tribunal to put a lid on hip-hop collective Pro Era’s bid for a trademark on hats and clothes.

Consumers would likely perceive “Pro Era” caps as an extension of New Era Cap Co. Inc.'s line of headwear given the New Era brand’s strength, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board said. Similarities outweigh the differences in commercial impression, and the overlap in the companies’ goods lowered the degree of similarity required for the board to consider the marks to be in conflict, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s tribunal said in a ruling ...