Mealey's Trademarks
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December 16, 2022
Mark Licensees’ Response Time Extended In High Court Row Over Licensor’s Joinder
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court granted an extension motion by a group of Jackson State University (JSU) trademark licensees who prevailed in a trademark infringement suit in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, giving them an additional two months to respond to a petition for certiorari on a question of whether a trademark licensor is a necessary defendant in a trademark infringement suit against licensees.
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December 16, 2022
Toymaker To High Court: 1st Amendment Doesn’t Bar Disney Trademark Suit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — After filing a petition for certiorari asking when the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides protection from trademark infringement liability, a toy company filed a supplemental brief directing the U.S. Supreme Court’s attention to two cases that it suggests have bearing upon its infringement suit against Disney Enterprises Inc. over a stuffed bear toy.
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December 14, 2022
MGM Bid To Transfer, Dismiss Dispute Over ‘Rocky’ Marks Denied
NEW YORK — A complaint seeking a declaration of noninfringement with regard to the “Rocky” trademarks will proceed in New York federal court, a federal judge in New York has ruled.
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December 08, 2022
Panel Upholds Dismissal Of Trademark Action, But Reinstates Copyright Claim
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California wrongly granted Yahoo! Inc. dismissal of allegations of copyright infringement leveled over the display of photographs even after Yahoo’s agreement with the creator of the photos was terminated, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled.
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December 07, 2022
Lanham Act Claim Fails, But Copyright Claim Survives Dismissal Bid
CHICAGO — A group of defendants who are among the few to not settle copyright infringement and false designation of origin claims by the maker of the “Fidget Cube” saw their efforts to obtain dismissal rejected in part by an Illinois federal judge.
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December 06, 2022
Oregon Federal Magistrate Judge Tosses Copyright, Lanham Act Claims Over Books
PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal magistrate judge in Oregon on Dec. 5 granted dismissal of copyright infringement and unfair competition claims leveled over the book “Why God Doesn’t Exist,” finding among other things that the Lanham Act “does not provide a cause of action for unattributed copying.”
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December 02, 2022
3rd Circuit Briefed On Fees Award In Nike ‘Cool Compression’ Trademark Suit
PHILADELPHIA— A small athletic apparel company tells the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in its appellee brief that willful infringement of its “cool compression” trademark by Nike Inc. justified a trial court’s award of enhanced damages, costs and attorney fees in this “David v. Goliath” trademark dispute.
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December 01, 2022
‘MTV Floribama Shore’ Satisfies Rogers Test, 11th Circuit Concludes
ATLANTA — In a case it said “lies at the crossroads” of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq., and the First Amendment, U.S. Const. amend. I, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld summary judgment in favor of trademark infringement defendants, which include ViacomCBS Inc., over the MTV reality television show “MTV Floribama Shore.”
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November 30, 2022
Dismissal Of Copyright, Trademark Claims Over Board Game Denied
CHICAGO — Allegations that two defendants created a fully interactive website to sell counterfeit versions of the “Match Madness” pattern matching board game will proceed, a federal judge in Illinois ruled.
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November 29, 2022
Chinese E-Commerce Firm Seeks Certiorari For Due Process, Jurisdictional Issues
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred in finding that a single online sale was sufficient to establish specific personal jurisdiction in a trademark infringement lawsuit, a Chinese e-commerce company asserts in a petition for certiorari, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to provide guidance on how the due process clause’s minimum contacts requirement applies to a globally accessible website.
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November 28, 2022
Appeal Dismissed, But Sanction Request Denied By Federal Circuit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Nov. 28 order, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said an appeal of an Ohio federal judge’s dismissal of patent infringement allegations on subject matter jurisdiction grounds is premature because a related claim for false advertising has not yet been adjudicated.
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November 28, 2022
2nd Circuit Says New York Federal Judge Must Revisit Trademark Ruling
NEW YORK — Because a federal judge in New York “focused almost entirely” on a single factor — the degree of similarity — in his analysis of likely confusion in a trademark case, a resultant dismissal was vacated and remanded Nov. 23 by the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
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November 21, 2022
Certiorari Granted To Jack Daniel’s In Trademark Row Over Squeaky Dog Toy
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a miscellaneous order issued Nov. 21, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to weigh in on the standards for trademark infringement and tarnishment in the context of parodies and other humorous uses, granting certiorari to Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. in a dispute over a dog toy that mimicked its famous whiskey bottle.
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November 21, 2022
Google Wins Dismissal Of Trademark Claims Over Food Ordering Features
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California on Nov. 18 said purported class claims that Google LLC infringes trademarks and commits false advertising by diverting customers from restaurant websites to delivery providers like DoorDash and Uber Eats fail as a matter of law.
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November 18, 2022
Injunction Upheld On Appeal In Lighting Design Intellectual Property Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A New York federal judge’s decision granting a patent, trademark and copyright infringement plaintiff preliminary injunctive relief in a dispute over lighting design was affirmed by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
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November 18, 2022
8th Circuit Upholds Judgment, Fee Award For Prevailing Trade Dress Defendant
ST. LOUIS — An Iowa federal judge’s grant of summary judgment to a company accused of infringing the unregistered trade dress of a portable pouch was affirmed by the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
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November 18, 2022
Jack Daniel’s Asks High Court To Rule On 1st Amendment Protection For Parodies
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Representing that a circuit split exists on the proper standard for deciding when a parody or humorous work infringes a trademark it is lampooning, Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc., in a reply supporting its petition for certiorari, requests that the U.S. Supreme Court provide guidance on whether courts should focus on the likelihood of confusion or protections under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
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November 15, 2022
High Court Won’t Hear Trademark Row Over Use In Commerce Requirement
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its Nov. 14 order list the U.S. Supreme Court turned away a petition for writ of certiorari by a Liechtenstein-based manufacturer of distilled spirits whose trademark claims against Bacardi U.S.A. Inc. were rejected.
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November 14, 2022
Blockchain Firm’s Trademark, Unfair Competition Suit Over Meta’s Logo Dismissed
SAN FRANCISCO — A Swiss blockchain organization failed to establish any likelihood of confusion between its marks and those recently adopted by Meta Platforms Inc., a California federal judge ruled, granting Meta’s motion to dismiss trademark infringement, trademark dilution and unfair competition claims against it.
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November 09, 2022
Judge Awards Mask Maker $5,000 In UCL, Trademark Suit, Cites Counterfeiter’s Refunds
LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge awarded a Hong Kong company with a trademark for disposable face masks $5,000 in statutory damages against a company that sold infringing copies of its masks, rejecting its request for $70,000 in damages based on evidence that the counterfeiter refunded all infringing purchases and denying the trademark-holder’s request for attorney fees “because the case is not ‘exceptional.’”
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November 09, 2022
Panel Upholds Denial Of Fees In Dispute Over ‘Museum Of Illusions’
SAN FRANCISCO — The operators of the “Museum of Illusions” on Hollywood Boulevard along the Hollywood Walk of Fame were properly denied their request to recover the attorney fees they incurred in defending allegations of trademark infringement, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Nov. 8.
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November 04, 2022
Extraterritorial Application Of Lanham Act Will Be Argued At High Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a miscellaneous order issued Nov. 4, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will take on a dispute over application of the Lanham Act to infringing sales that take place purely abroad.
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November 01, 2022
Motion To Voluntarily Dismiss Trademark Case Granted In Illinois
CHICAGO — A declaratory judgment action over the rights to use “Kate” in connection with two boutique hotels was dismissed Oct. 31 by a federal judge in Illinois.
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October 27, 2022
In California Copyright, Lanham Act Case, Meta Wins Dismissal
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California granted a motion to dismiss putative class claims of copyright infringement and false advertising leveled in connection with Facebook’s embedding tool, but the plaintiff won leave to amend his complaint a second time.
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October 26, 2022
Panel Leaves Default Judgment Intact In ‘SUNY’ Trademark Case
NEW YORK — Efforts by several former students in the State University of New York (SUNY) system to undo a default judgment entered against them by a New York federal judge failed Oct. 25, when the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed.