This week we are discussing ways you can use a third party’s mark to identify the third party’s goods or services while also advertising your own. For example, a dental office wants to let potential patients know that it uses a specific brand of dental veneers. The law allows XYZ Dental to factually state:
“XYZ Dental specializes in the fitting and application of ABC® brand veneers.”
This type of use is known as nominative fair use and as with comparative advertising and descriptive fair use, there are rules that need to be followed.