— Also termed imitation; colorable imitation. [Cases: Trade Regulation 340. C.J.S. Trade-Marks, Trade-Names, and Unfair Competition §§ 86, 89.]
“It is the buyer who uses ordinary caution in making his purchase, who is buying with the care usually exercised in such transactions, who must be deceived by this similarity. He who buys a box of candy does not use as much care as he who buys a watch. He who buys a handkerchief does not usually examine the goods offered him as carefully as he who buys a suit of clothes.” Harry D. Nims, The Law of Unfair Competition and Trade-Marks 836 (1929).
comprehensive nonliteral similarity. Copyright. Similarity evidenced by the copying of the protected work’s general ideas or structure (such as a movie’s plot) without using the precise words or phrases of the work.
— Also termed pattern similarity.
fragmented literal similarity. Copyright. Similarity evidenced by the copying of verbatim portions of the protected work.
pattern similarity. See comprehensive nonlinear similarity.
substantial similarity. Copyright. A strong resemblance between a copyrighted work and an alleged infringement, thereby creating an inference of unauthorized copying. • The standard for substantial similarity is whether an ordinary person would conclude that the alleged infringement has appropriated nontrivial amounts of the copyrighted work’s expressions. See derivative work under WORK (2). [Cases: Copyrights and Intellectual Property 53(1).]
