Sensient Technologies Wins Temporary Restraining Order for Trademark Infringement
The Eastern District of Missouri granted a temporary restraining order based on trademark infringement in Sensient Technologies Corp. v. SensoryFlavors, Inc., 2008 WL 762092 (E.D. Mo. 3/21/08).
Sensient Technologies is the corporate umbrella that used to be Universal Foods Corporation. One of Sensient's companies is Sensient Flavors. SensoryFlavors is a competitor that was formed by Charles Nicolais, the former head of Sensient Colors, Inc., which is another of Sensient's subsidiaries. Defendants argued they came up with the name SensoryFlavors without copying Sensient Flavors.
The court easily granted the TRO and only required a $25,000 bond. This case is a good reminder that trademark infringement turns on likelihood of confusion; it does not matter how the infringing mark was created.
This seems like a textbook case of trademark infringement. It was interesting that the court found that "Sensient" was fanciful, while "Flavors" had not acquired secondary meaning. It seems odd that they broke up the name and analyzed each piece like that. However, since the "products...are virtually identical, and marks...have strong phonetic similarity," the decision to grant the temporary restraining order seems only logical.