Trademark violation dispute

Image for illustration only

A candy maker claimed its products were used in a stock photo, violating its trademark and demanded that the image be withdrawn from a photo agency’s collection. The photo agency representing the image determined that the chocolates shown were not made by the candy company, but by a professional pastry chef who was retained by the photographer, specifically to produce generic looking chocolates for the shoot.

The agency also pointed out that the candy maker’s trademark did not appear in any aspect of the photo. The agency also secured additional outside legal opinion that the representation of common objects in a photo is neither a trademark violation nor would it cause consumer confusion that any specific candy maker produced, endorsed or sponsored the photo in any way. The objection was dropped.