Court Upholds Ban on CVS' Bar Code Removal

(CN) – CVS lost its appeal of an injunction barring it from removing bar codes in order to resell a Swiss company’s trademarked goods.     U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas issued an injunction forbidding the retail drugstore chain from selling Zino Davidoff’s watches, tobacco products and men’s cologne with the unique production codes, or UPCs, removed.     Karas ruled that the Swiss company would likely succeed on its infringement claim, because the UPC acts as a useful quality-control mechanism.     The 2nd Circuit in New York affirmed.     “Because the production codes play an important role in helping the trademark owner to guard against counterfeits and protect the reputation of the mark,” Judge Leval wrote, “the district court properly found that its unauthorized removal by a seller could justify a finding of trademark infringement.”