The Tea Rose-Rectanus doctrine or remote, good-faith user doctrine is a common law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

 rule of United States trademark law

United States trademark law

Trademarks were traditionally protected in the United States only under State common law, growing out of the tort of unfair competition. As early as 1791, Thomas Jefferson proposed that the marks of sailcloth makers could be protected under the Commerce Clause, but it was not until 1870 that...

 that determines the geographic scope of rights. The doctrine allows a junior user of a mark that is geographically remote from the senior user of the mark to establish priority over a senior user's claim to the mark in the junior user's area. The constructive use and notice sections of the Lanham Act

Lanham Act

The Lanham Act is a piece of legislation that contains the federal statutes of trademark law in the United States. The Act prohibits a number of activities, including trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and false advertising.-History:Named for Representative Fritz G...

 limited the applicability of this doctrine.

Overview

The doctrine is named for two early twentieth-century United States Supreme Court cases, Hanover Star Milling Co. v. Metcalf, 240 U.S. 403

Case citation

Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...

 (1916) (the "Tea Rose" case), and United Drug Co. v. Theodore Rectanus Co., 248 U.S. 90

Case citation

Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...

 (1918).

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...

 in the case of Grupo Gigante SA De CV v. Dallo & Co., Inc., 391 F.3d 1088, 1097

Case citation

Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...

 (9th Cir. 2004) described the rule as follows:

[P]riority of use in one geographic area within the United States does not necessarily suffice to establish priority in another area. Thus, the first user of a mark will not necessarily be able to stop a subsequent user, where the subsequent user is in an area of the country "remote" from the first user's area. The practical effect is that one user may have priority in one area, while another user has priority over the very same mark in a different area. The point of this doctrine is that in the remote area, where no one is likely to know of the earlier user, it is unlikely that consumers would be confused by the second user's use of the mark.

For this doctrine to apply, the junior user must use the mark in good faith

Good faith

In philosophy, the concept of Good faith—Latin bona fides “good faith”, bona fide “in good faith”—denotes sincere, honest intention or belief, regardless of the outcome of an action; the opposed concepts are bad faith, mala fides and perfidy...

 outside of the area of the senior user. The Eighth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Arkansas* Western District of Arkansas...

 applies a four factor test to determine the area where the senior user's mark is protected. A junior user may no longer qualify as a good-faith, remote user if the junior user had knowledge of the senior user's mark.

Modern Applicability

The remote, good faith user doctrine only applies where the senior user is relying upon common law trademark rights or has a federal registration that post-dates the junior user's first use. A federal registration may allow the senior user to enforce his or her rights anywhere in the U.S., regardless of actual use in any particular location within the country. The principle underlying this doctrine has been codified as part of the Lanham Act

Lanham Act

The Lanham Act is a piece of legislation that contains the federal statutes of trademark law in the United States. The Act prohibits a number of activities, including trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and false advertising.-History:Named for Representative Fritz G...

, which permits Concurrent use registration

Concurrent use registration

A concurrent use registration, in United States trademark law, is a federal trademark registration of the same trademark to two or more unrelated parties, with each party having a registration limited to a distinct geographic area...

where both parties had used the mark in good faith before either party had filed for a federal registration.