Ball v. American Trial Lawyers Assn

In Ball v. American Trial Lawyers Assn. (1971) 14 Cal.App.3d 289, the court said: "In deciding the question of likelihood of confusion, the preliminary determination of what constitutes the relevant public is a material issue. We think the trial court committed legal error in confining the relevant public to 'the bench, members of the bar, law teachers, law students, and (perhaps) public officials.' . . . We feel that the relevant public includes that cross-section of the populace who may come into contact with the names or the respective reputations of either organization, the activities of either organization or of its respective members, or the official positions or views of either organization upon contemporary controversial legal problems. These matters are not confined to the discerning few, such as the bench, bar, law professors, and public officials." ( Ball, supra, 14 Cal.App.3d at p. 308.)