Product names on commercial designs?

Question

So, I am a graphic designer and I make a small amount of money selling funny custom t-shirts. These shirts have quick 1-liners which can be interpreted in a number of ways. My current design contains a product name (Namely Lurpak) and I was wondering if there are any IP or trademark laws which stop me from commercially selling these t-shirts which have subjective product placement.

I understand that there are problems when these products misrepresent a product or tarnish the reputation of the brand, but I definitely did not want to release the shirt and then have legal problems on my hands as this is not my strong point!

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

The issue would be a potential trademark infringement. And, the primary issue would be whether there is any possibility that an ordinary consumer of the type who buys that kind of product could be confused by this and think that they were buying a product of the owner of the trademark when they weren't actually doing so.

In addition to confusion, there could also be a concern over dilution of the mark owner's mark by tending to use the mark as a generic name for a product of that type, diluting its "secondary meaning" as a product particularly made by the company that owns the mark.

A really blatant parody is probably safe. But, the more subtle you are, t the more likely you are to be in trouble and infringe on the mark.