Legal Definitions - innocent junior user

Definition: An innocent junior user is a person who uses a trademark without knowing that someone else has already been using it in a different area. They can continue to use the trademark in their limited geographic area as long as the senior user does not use the mark there.

Example: Let's say that John owns a small coffee shop in New York City called "Java Joe's" and has been using this name for several years. However, he never registered the trademark. Later, Sarah opens a coffee shop in Los Angeles and calls it "Java Joe's" without knowing that John has already been using this name. Sarah is considered an innocent junior user because she did not know about John's coffee shop in New York. As long as John does not expand his business to Los Angeles, Sarah can continue to use the name "Java Joe's" in her coffee shop.

This example illustrates the concept of an innocent junior user. Sarah did not have any knowledge of John's coffee shop and therefore did not intentionally infringe on his trademark. However, if John decides to expand his business to Los Angeles, Sarah would have to stop using the name "Java Joe's" in her coffee shop.