Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the license). Infringement may occur when one party, the "infringer", uses a trademark which is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark owned by another party, in relation to products or services which are identical or similar to the products or services which the registration covers. An owner of a trademark may commence legal proceedings against a party which infringes its registration.

Where the respective marks or products or services are not identical, similarity will generally be assessed by reference to whether there is a likelihood of confusion that consumers will believe the products or services originated from the trademark owner.

Likelihood of confusion is not necessarily measured by actual consumer confusion, though normally one of the elements, but by a series of criteria Courts have established. A prime example is the test announced by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in AMF v Sleekcraft Boats. The Court there announced eight specific elements to measure likelihood of confusion:

Strength of the mark 

Proximity of the goods 

Similarity of the marks 

Evidence of actual confusion 

Marketing channels used 

Type of goods and the degree of care likely to be exercised by the purchaser 

Defendant's intent in selecting the mark 

Likelihood of expansion of the product lines

The party accused of infringement may be able to defeat infringement proceedings if it can establish a valid exception (e.g. comparative advertising) or defence (e.g. laches) to infringement, or attack and cancel the underlying registration (eg. for non-use) upon which the proceedings are based.

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