Ralph Lauren’s famous Polo horseman logo has been gracing the company’s products for at least four decades. And thanks to a similar mark owned by the U.S. Polo Association, litigation over the iconic image has been clogging the courts for nearly as long.
On Monday Ralph Lauren’s lawyers at Kelley, Drye & Warren scored a win in the latest skirmish over the company’s trademark, persuading the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to rule that the U.S. Polo Association can’t use its own polo player mark on fragrances and cosmetics. The 12-page unpublished decision in United States Polo Association Inc v. PRL USA Holdings, 12-1346-cv, affirms a March 2012 ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet in Manhattan that enjoined the USPA from using the mark.
