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IP BLAWG
Puzzle Me This Land O' Lakes
Beverly A. Berneman
3/15/16The Seventh Circuit is puzzled how anyone could confuse Land O’ Lakes dairy products with Land O’ Lakes fishing tackle. %CUT% It all started when Land O’ Lakes (the dairy guys) wanted Land O’ Lakes (the fishing tackle guy,) to license the name. The fishing tackle guy refused. So the dairy guys opposed the fishing tackle guy’s trademark application. Then the fishing tackle guy filed suit. In the end, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment dismissing all claims. Judge Posner stated: “Can one imagine Land O' Lakes advertising: ‘we sell the finest dairy products and the best fishing tackle?’ . . . So in this unusual case two firms sued each other though neither had been, is, or is likely to be harmed in the slightest by the other. The suit was rightly dismissed.”
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