Le-Vel Brands, LLC recently sued Thrival Nutrition, LLC in the Eastern District of Texas (4:19-cv-00698-SDJ) for trademark infringement and unfair competition arising from Le-Vel’s use of THRIVE and Thrival’s use of THRIVAL

To prevail, Le-Vel will of course have to prove the there is a likelihood of confusion, but Le-Vel has help in meeting this burden from an unlikely source — Thrival’s own social media posts. As set forth in the very first paragraph of the Complain, Thrival has admitted on its Facebook page that there is confusion between the two companies:

While Thrival may ultimately be able to explain away these posts, the bottom line is that they are going to have to. Lured by the ease and informality of posting in social media businesses often post messages without vetting the content. The reality is that such posts are virtually permanent, and relatively easy to find, and thus the content should be vetted the same way it would review formal press releases and advertising

A business should restrict who can post on its behalf, and should have some process for vetting the content of those posts to avoid embarrassment or worse — liability.