The Lanham Act entitles a trademark owner to prevent others from causing "confusion" about the source of goods. Think of a fake Gucci handbag featuring an emblem right similar to the real thing. The Gucci people don’t like that.
Today, according to the Associated Press, U.S. Attorney Alberto Gonzales wrote a letter saying that he regretted causing confusion about which national security "program" he meant when he testified that nobody in the Department of Justice expressed reservations about it. And that worry about the "program" didn’t prompt his late-night visit to his predecessor’s hospital room.
Blawgletter takes no position on the difference in general between confusion and deception. But we do note that the former suggests the one who caused the confusion didn’t mean to and that the latter implies that he did. On which side does the AG fall? We compare. You decide.
Barry Barnett