In what appears to be a case of first impression, the Ninth Circuit ruled (perhaps unsurprisingly) that under the Madrid Protocol, a foreign applicant who obtains a registration.
The general rule under U.S. trademark law is that the first to use a trademark in U.S. commerce has priority in the mark over other "would-be" users of the same, or confusingly similar,.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found Madrid Protocol grants priority as of the constructive use date, but to prevail on an infringement action based on that superior right of priority, the registrant must establish the requisite likelihood of confusion under the Lanham Act