Kimberly-Clark sued for ‘Soft touch’ TM infringement
An eyewear designer has accused multinational brand Kimberly-Clark of trademark infringement in relation to its safety eyewear collection.
The claim was filed at the US District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division, on Friday, January 25.
Live Eyewear, a “premium provider” of glasses and related accessories according to the claim, is the owner of word mark ‘Soft touch’. The mark is registered under US trademark number 3,622,039, in international class 9, covering a rubberised coating for eyeglass frames and accessories.
‘Soft touch’ has been used since 2003, according to the complaint, and was registered in 2009. Live Eyewear’s “strict control” over product merchandising has led to the mark being of “significant value” to the company, as it distinguishes Live Eyewear’s collection of glasses from others.
Live Eyewear claimed that it has prevented the use of the mark by “hundreds of infringing retailers” who were using the mark without authorisation.
It alleged that personal care company Kimberly-Clark has violated its “prominent” trademark through using ‘Soft touch’ in print and online material to sell safety eyewear, under the brand ‘Jackson Safety’.
Products are advertised as having “soft touch rubber temples”, according to the complaint. Temples are the arms of the glasses.
Live Eyewear complained that retailers of Kimberly-Clark’s safety eyewear “blindly adopt[ed]” the mark to advertise the temples, resulting in a “virtual explosion of infringing use”.
“Kimberly-Clark has wilfully and carelessly disseminated its use of Live Eyewear’s trademarks to thousands of global retailers and consumers, causing widespread harm and dilution to Live Eyewear’s incontestable mark,” said the claim.
Live Eyewear reportedly contacted a retailer of Kimberly-Clark’s products in January 2015. The retailer then stopped selling the eyewear in question and passed the notice of infringement on to Kimberly-Clark.
The eyewear company is seeking triple damages, profits, and injunctive relief.
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