Holiday Inns, Inc. v. 800 Reservations, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
86 F.3d 619 (1996)
Holiday Inns (plaintiff) advertised its reservation number, 1-800-HOLIDAY, but had never registered or claimed the complementary number using a zero instead of the letter O - 1-800-H[0]LIDAY - which Call Management Systems (defendant) acquired and operated through 800 Reservations (defendant) as a shared hotel reservation line, benefiting from confused callers who misdialed. Holiday Inns sued for trademark infringement and unfair competition, and the district court granted it partial summary judgment along with a permanent injunction against the defendants' use of the complementary number.
Whether a newcomer that intentionally profits from preexisting public confusion about another's trademark, without itself using the trademark or causing the confusion, violates the Lanham Act.