The Timing of Confusion

The conventional assumption in trade mark law is that the potential for confusion is assessed at the moment when a transactional decision is required. In ‘trade mark infringement cases in order to establish liability, a plaintiff must establish that there is a likelihood of confusion between the junior user’s mark and the senior user’s mark. . . Most cases involve confusion at the point of sale’. However two other variants have also been recognised by courts. This chapter reviews the authorities which establish liability for confusion (1) that occurs prior to a purchase transaction and which may even be corrected before the transaction occurs, or (2) is generated by the use of a sign in relation to a product after its purchase. The former is referred to as initial interest confusion while the latter is known as post-sale confusion. While seemingly presented as a question of timing—when is the relevant consumer confused? —each variant more fundamentally relates to the presence or absence of meaningful harm to the trade mark owner.