Brooks Sports has been sued by Car-Freshner Corp. for allegedly selling footwear bearing
images similar to Car-Freshner's trademarked tree design and
slogan “I'm Fresh.”
The federal trademark infringement suit was field in in U.S. District Court, Syracuse, according to the Watertown Daily News.
Car-Freshner, based in Watertown, claims Brooks' running shoes with a tree design
on the inner sole is “virtually indistinguishable” from
Car-Freshner's design. It also claims the sneakers' design includes the phrase “Run Fresh,”
which Car-Freshner claims violates trademarks it holds to a variety of
uses of the word “Fresh,” such as “Play Fresh,” “Ride Fresh” and “Live
Fresh.”
Car-Freshner is seeeking a court order to prevent Brooks from continuing to sell the shoes and recall and destroy any already sold.
