Southern District of New York — On January 29th, 2018, Colgate-Palmolive filed a lawsuit against Ranir LLC, an oral healthcare company. The lawsuit alleges trademark infringement. The toothbrushes being sold by Ranir allegedly infringe upon the “360°” trademark owned by Colgate. Legal Advantage, premier choice for patent illustration services, explains more:

According their complaint, Colgate has been marketing toothbrushes and oral health products under their “360°” trademark since 2005. Colgate states that in the last five years, sales of 360°-branded Colgate toothbrushes have placed the product line among the best-selling products of their kind in the country. Colgate alleges that in late 2017, Ranir started unlawful operations in the marketplace by launching a new line of oral health products they called “SMILE 360”.

Colgate argues that Ranir has never legally acquired the rights to use the “360°” in their branding and should have known about Colgate’s rights to the “360°” marks. Colgate’s reason for believing this is based on Ranir being a contract manufacturer for Colgate until December 31st, 2017. Colgate alleges in the lawsuit that adding “SMILE” doesn’t eliminate confusion among consumers. They argue that using “SMILE 360” branding is a deliberate attempt by Ranir to give consumers a false impression. As a design patent drawings specialist, we recommend paying attention to this case to better understand the importance of trademark protection.

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The importance of professional trademark illustration services cannot be overstated because trademarks are a cornerstone of corporate identity. Legal Advantage can assist you by combining our legal and technical expertise and providing you with accurate and detailed illustrations for your trademark. We serve many areas across the country including the Metro Washington, DC area. Call us at (301) 637-6180 to learn more about our services.