Case Problem with Sample Answer In 1969, Jack Masquelier, a professor of pharmacology, discovered a chemical antioxidant made from the bark of a French pine tree. The substance supposedly assists in nutritional distribution and blood circulation. Horphag Research, Ltd., began to sell the product under the name Pycnogenol, which Horphag registered as a trademark in 1993. Pycnogenol became one of the fi fteen best-selling herbal supplements in the United States. In 1999, through the Web site healthierlife.com, Larry Garcia began to sell Masquelier’s Original OPCs, a supplement derived from grape pits. Claiming that this product was the

“true Pycnogenol,” Garcia used the mark as a meta tag and a generic term, attributing the results of research on Horphag’s product to Masquelier’s and altering quotations from scientifi c literature to substitute the name of Masquelier’s product for Horphag’s. Some customers who had bought Garcia’s product learned that it was not Horphag’s product only after they contacted Horphag. Others called Horphag to ask whether Garcia

“was selling . . . real Pycnogenol.” Horphag fi led a suit in a federal district court against Garcia, alleging, in part, that he was diluting Horphag’s mark. What is trademark dilution? Did it occur here? Explain. [Horphag Research, Ltd. v. Garcia, 475F.3d 1029 (9th Cir. 2007)]

—After you have answered Problem 5–5, compare your answer with the sample answer given on the Web site that accompanies this text. Go to www.cengage.com/blaw/blt, select “Chapter 5,” and click on “Case Problem with Sample Answer.”