Affirmative Defenses (Trademark) Law and Legal Definition
Defendants in a trademark infringement or dilution claim can assert two types of affirmative defense such as, fair use or parody. Fair use occurs when a descriptive mark is used in good faith for its primary meaning, and no consumer confusion is likely to result. Parodies of trademarks can be permissible if they are not too directly tied to commercial use. The artistic and editorial parodies of trademarks serve a valuable critical function, and that this critical function acts as affirmative defense for defendants in trademark infringement.
