Russell Corporation, the maker of Russell Athletic products, lost its legal bid to prevent the British actor and comedian Russell Brand from registering his name as a trademark to be used on a product line including apparel, footwear and headgear. Russell Corp. argued that the similar names would be confusing to customers and hurt its performance in the U.K., but the hearing officer disagreed, saying that Russell Brand was better-known that the company tried to portray him. In addition, his collection will use his full name, whereas the company uses just “Russell.” The company was ordered to pay a portion of Brand's legal costs.

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