Vagisil Maker’s Trademark Win Over Rival Upheld on Appeal (1)

Vagisil maker Combe Inc.’s successful attempt to block a German pharmaceutical company from registering its own “Vagisan” trademark in the U.S. was upheld by the Fourth Circuit.

Following a 2018 bench trial, Judge T. S. Ellis III in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found Combe had shown a likelihood of consumers confusing “Vagisil” and “Vagisan.”

Ellis said Dr. August Wolff GMBH & Co. KG Arzneimittel’s “Vagisan” mark isn’t registrable.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the ruling in an unpublished opinion, saying the lower court’s determinations weren’t “clearly erroneous.”

The decision ...