Candy Land (the candy) vs. Candy Land (the game)

Plaintiff owns the CANDYLAND mark in connection with candy. Defendant owns the mark in connection with games. When defendant licensed the mark to a third-party to use for selling candy, plaintiff sued. In response, defendant claimed that the mark was generic and not entitled to trademark protection as it simply added the word “land” to a generic term and used it connection with its store, and because others had used the mark to sell candy, thereby weakening the mark. Defendant also claimed that there was no confusion between the marks. The court denied both arguments. As far as the mark being generic, the court found that plaintiff used the mark in connection with the sale of candy and not for a candy store. Thus, the mark, as used in connection with candy goods, was not generic. Additionally, the defendant failed to convince the court that others’ use of the mark rendered it generic. Finally, the court found that given the information it had, it could not state for certain that the use of the marks by the parties was not confusing.