Question

A small brewery in New York called Empire Brewing Company manufactured a brand of beer called "Strikes Bock." For seven years, the brewery served the beer only on tap. With the intention of bottling and selling the beer in stores, Empire Brewing sought a trademark for "Strikes Bock." Lucasfilm opposed the trademark registration maintaining that it could cause confusion with its famous film, "The Empire Strikes Back." What is the probable outcome and why?

Answer 1

The most probable outcome of this case is that Empire Brewing Company would lose the case and won't be able to get the trademark registration for "Strikes Bock". The reason behind such an outcome is the infringement of the secondary meaning or function of Lucasfilm's famous film. Since Lucasfilm has already used this name is its film which is widely famous and more known than Empire's beer,

Lucasfilm is more likely to get the trademark as if this trademark name is allotted to Empire, there would be a possibility of injunction.