Cameo Clips

The owner of the trademark for the rock band Survivor failed to show dilution or likelihood of confusion regarding the defendants' distribution of music CDs and merchandise with the logo of the TV series “Survivor,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decided. Sullivan v. CBS Corp., 02-2058. The district court had granted summary judgment for the defendants. The appeals court first ruled that the plaintiff's mark was arbitrary, rather than descriptive. A descriptive mark indicates the ingredient or characteristic of a mark, thus the appeals court noted that term “Survivor” wasn't descriptive of a musical band. But that the mark was arbitrary and generally entitled to greater protection didn't help the plaintiff in this case. The fundamental issue remained whether the public associated the mark with the source of a particular product and on this the court stated that the plaintiff failed to present sufficient evidence. According to the court, “Survivor has not released a new album in the United States since 1993. Sullivan offered nothing about how much money he spends promoting the Band, or on advertising for the Band, nor did he provide any evidence of how much money the Band has earned. … There is simply no evidence that 'Survivor' the Band enjoys fame and recognition as the originator of any products other than rock albums and concert t-shirts.”