## Facts

- Visa International Service Association owned numerous federal registrations for the VISA mark used in connection with credit cards and related financial services.
- VISA was widely recognized in the marketplace; survey evidence showed near-universal brand recognition and substantial consumer association between “eVISA” and Visa.
- JSL Corporation, through its principal, operated an online English-language education business using the mark EVISA and the domain name evisa.com.
- Visa alleged that EVISA/evisa.com would create a new commercial meaning for “Visa” unrelated to payment services and would impair the distinctiveness of the VISA mark.
- After earlier proceedings applying a different dilution standard, the case returned to the district court to reconsider the dilution analysis under the Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006 (TDRA).

## Issues

1. Whether the TDRA’s “likelihood of dilution” standard governed the federal dilution claim in this still-pending case.
2. Whether JSL’s commercial use of EVISA and evisa.com was likely to dilute the distinctiveness of the famous VISA mark by blurring under 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c).
3. Whether Visa was entitled to summary judgment and permanent injunctive relief based on the TDRA blurring factors and the evidentiary record.

## Decision

- The court held the TDRA applied and granted relief from the prior judgment to analyze dilution under the TDRA framework.
- The court granted summary judgment to Visa on dilution by blurring, finding no genuine dispute of material fact on likelihood of dilution.
- The court entered a permanent injunction barring JSL from using the EVISA mark and the evisa.com domain name (and similar variants) in connection with its business.

## Legal Principles

- Under the TDRA, the owner of a famous mark is entitled to an injunction against another’s commercial use of a mark that is likely to cause dilution by blurring, regardless of confusion, competition, or economic injury.  
- Dilution by blurring is an association arising from similarity between a junior mark and a famous mark that impairs the famous mark’s distinctiveness.
- Relevant blurring factors include similarity of the marks, distinctiveness and recognition of the famous mark, the extent of substantially exclusive use, intent to create an association, and evidence of actual association.
- Incorporating a famous mark in its entirety into a junior mark, including in a domain name, supports a finding of high similarity; contextual differences between the parties’ businesses may carry limited weight where consumers encounter a domain name without context.
- Strong survey evidence of consumer association can support a finding of likely dilution by blurring at summary judgment.

## Conclusion

The court applied the TDRA’s likelihood-of-dilution standard and held that JSL’s EVISA mark and evisa.com domain were likely to dilute the famous VISA mark by blurring, warranting summary judgment for Visa and a permanent injunction prohibiting JSL’s use of EVISA and evisa.com.


Visa Int'l Serv. Ass'n v. JSL Corp., 590 F. Supp. 2d 1306 (D. Nev. 2008)