Abott, who make Similac, a formula milk for babies, tried to register trademark number 180337 for eye-Q and, the graphic mark 180338 as it appears below:
Apparently, in the age-old question of nature or nurture, it would appear that nurturing babies on the right type of formula milk helps develop their intelligence.
The pun is not new, Camtek has a couple of marks for systems that address the optical quality control of semiconductor components and there is another mark, Andrea Eqe Q’s for cosmetics.
The significance of the eye in Abott’s application which was for baby food is beyond me.
That as may be, Materna, Israel’s leading brand of baby milk formula has a trademark for “Materna IQ”. They opposed Abott’s application, claiming likelihood of confusion, pointing out that the target audience (mothers and fathers of children presumably, unless the powder actually works, in which case, perhaps the babies themselves?) is identical, and Abott responded that in Materna’s mark they disclaimed IQ without the word Materna. Abbott also pointed out that Materna had not made significant use of their mark.
If the name of the manufacturer is clearly stated, arguably, there is no likelihood of confusion as to the source fo goods. Then again, one can certainly envisage a father (not having been fed on the brainy formula himself) making a mistake and bringing back the wrong thing.
The Israel Commissioner of Patents, Dr Noam, ruled that usage by Materna of their mark was irrelevant to the issue of registering a conflicting mark, but could be challenged in an annulment proceedings. He was also not impressed with the argument that the letters IQ per se. lacked distinctiveness or that the Abott mark should be read eye Q and couldn’t really be confused by anyone for IQ.
Dr Noam refused the Abott application and awarded costs of NIS 30,000 (about $8000 US) to Materna.
We note that in 2007, Scientific American published an article based on research at King’s College London to the effect that natural mother’s milk boosted intelligence. See http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=got-smarts-mothers-milk-m. Since that study, manufacturers of articifial baby formula have added fatty acid supplements that boost the FADS2 gene.
As I was not nursed by my mother and these supplements were not available 40 years ago, I suspect that if I continue this article I will reveal my intellectual shortcomings, so I will quit whilst the going is good…
