CHICAGO - The United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, recently granted a permanent injunction in favor of Kimberly-Clark Corporation and Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. against ValuMax International, Inc. in a trademark infringement and dilution case involving color.

Kimberly-Clark asserted trademark infringement, unfair competition and trademark dilution, violations of the Lanham Act, as well as a violation of the Georgia Deceptive Trade Practices Act and Georgia Trademark law regarding its Color Orange disposable medical face mask sold under the FLUIDSHIELD® trademark. The Color Orange is a registered trademark of Kimberly-Clark in connection with face masks. Kimberly-Clark claimed that ValuMax infringed its registered trademark by selling a disposable medical face mask of a "confusingly similar orange color."

The court ordered that ValuMax be permanently enjoined from using an orange color for its medical face mask product or from using any other mark which could cause confusion or dilute Kimberly-Clark's trademark-registered Color Orange. It further ordered ValuMax to destroy all medical face masks of an orange color similar to that used by Kimberly-Clark as well as any product used to produce the orange color in contention.

Kimberly-Clark is a widely recognized manufacturer and supplier of a variety of consumer and non-consumer products that are marketed and sold worldwide. Kimberly-Clark has sold and extensively promoted disposable medical face masks under its Color Orange trademark since 1988 and the company's Color Orange trademark has become a valuable asset as a symbol of Kimberly-Clark, its quality products and its goodwill.

Kimberly-Clark was represented by attorneys Thomas M. Williams and Michelle A. Miller of the intellectual property law firm Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione and attorneys Mark VanderBroek and Alison Grounds of the Atlanta law firm of Troutman Sanders.

Founded in 1917, Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione is based in Chicago with four additional offices across the country serving the intellectual property needs of clients from around the world. The firm is one of the largest IP law firms in the country, with more than 150 attorneys, scientific advisors and patent agents specializing in intellectual property litigation and all aspects of patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, unfair competition, intellectual asset management, and technology and licensing agreements. Brinks routinely handles assignments in fields as diverse as electrical, chemical, mechanical, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, nanotechnology, Internet and computer technology, as well as in trademarks or brand names for a wide variety of products and services. For additional information visit http://www.usebrinks.com.