1304.03(c) Likelihood of Confusion
Likelihood of confusion may arise from the contemporaneous use, by one party, of a collective membership mark on the one hand and a trademark or service mark on the other. The same standards used to determine likelihood of confusion between trademarks and service marks also apply to collective membership marks. See 15 U.S.C. §1052(d); In re Nat’l Novice Hockey League, Inc., 222 USPQ 638 (TTAB 1984) ; Allstate Life Ins. Co. v. Cuna Int’l, Inc., 169 USPQ 313 (TTAB 1971) , aff’d, 487 F.2d 1407, 180 USPQ 48 (C.C.P.A. 1973).
The finding of likelihood of confusion between a collective membership mark and a trademark or service mark is not based on confusion as to the source of any goods or services provided by the members of the collective organization. Rather, the question is whether relevant persons are likely to believe that "the trademark owner’s goods or services emanate from or are endorsed by or are in some other way associated with the collective organization." Pierce-Arrow Soc’y v. Spintek Filtration, Inc., 2019 USPQ2d 471774, at *8-9 (TTAB 2019) (quoting Carefirst of Md., Inc. v. FirstHealth of the Carolinas Inc., 77 USPQ2d 1492, 1513 (TTAB 2005)); In re Code Consultants Inc., 60 USPQ2d 1699, 1701 (TTAB 2001) . For purposes of Section 2(d), the identification of goods or services is used to determine the relevant consuming public. Pierce-Arrow Soc’y, 2019 USPQ2d 471774, at *9 (citing In re Gulf Coast Nutritionals, Inc., 106 USPQ2d 1243, 1247 (TTAB 2013)). Relevant purchasers for a collective membership mark consist of "those persons or groups of persons for whose benefit the membership mark is displayed." Id. (citing Carefirst of Md., Inc., 77 USPQ2d at 1513).