Sunkist Revives Bid to Block “kist” Soda Trademark at Fed. Cir.

Sunkist Growers Inc. convinced the Federal Circuit to reverse a tribunal finding that a “kist” soda trademark wouldn’t confuse consumers.

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board improperly imputed contrasting associations in analyzing the similarity of the marks, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a precedential decision Wednesday. The record doesn’t support the board’s conclusion that Intrastate Distributors Inc.'s mark would routinely appear next to a lips logo, nor Sunkist’s with a sun, knocking out a critical element of its likelihood of consumer confusion analysis.

The opinion by Circuit Judge Sharon Prost emphasizes that elements absent ...