Fish's Catherine Stockell Quoted in Law360 Article, "What's That Smell? Play-Doh Leads Charge For Scent TMs"

Catherine Stockell(Of Counsel) was recently quoted inLaw360article, "What’s That Smell? Play-Doh Leads Charge For Scent TMs” on February 23, 2017.

“The amount of evidence needed to establish secondary meaning of a scent mark is substantial,” said Catherine H. Stockell, a trademark attorney with Fish & Richardson PC. “Applicants have to be able to show that consumers have come to understand the scent as a mark and not merely a descriptive feature of the product.”

In particular, Stockell pointed to Hasbro’s decision to license the Play-Doh scent for a cologne line, released for the 50th anniversary of the product’s launch, that offered wearers a chance to coat themselves in “a whimsical scent reminiscent of their childhood.”

“The expansion of the scent to another product designed to evoke the early childhood pleasures of playing with the modeling clay provides demonstrable evidence that the scent itself has established a secondary meaning,” she said.

To read the full article, please click here.