Mealey's Trademarks
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June 26, 2023
Panel Affirms: Priority Of Use For ‘Larissa Love’ Trademark Not Established
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California correctly determined, following a bench trial, that a trademark infringement counterclaimant failed to place her “Larissa Love” branded hair care products in commerce before a plaintiff registered the mark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled June 23.
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June 21, 2023
‘Objectively Frivolous’ Trademark Claims Tossed, Sanctions Entered In Florida
TAMPA, Fla. — Counsel for a trademark infringement plaintiff “wasted both Defendants’ and the Court’s time and made misrepresentations to the Court which were objectively frivolous and which she knew to be false,” a federal judge in Florida ruled June 20, granting sanctions in the form of attorney fees and costs.
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June 20, 2023
N.J. Panel: Insurers Have No Duty To Defend Dental Practices Against Underlying Suits
TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appeals panel on June 19 affirmed a lower court’s ruling that general liability and directors and officers liability insurers have no duty to defend 14 dental practice insureds against lawsuits alleging trademark infringement, breach of contract and other claims, finding that “based on the clear and unambiguous exclusionary language in the policies, plaintiffs were not obligated to defend or indemnify defendants.”
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June 20, 2023
Sculptor Beats Copyright Claims, But Trademark Claims Will Proceed In N.Y.
NEW YORK — The sculptor of Fearless Girl — a young girl staring down the famed Charging Bull sculpture near Wall Street in New York City — has won summary judgment in New York federal court on allegations that she engaged in direct copyright infringement when she sold a replica of Fearless Girl to a Wall Street executive who then used the work at a corporate event focused on gender diversity.
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June 20, 2023
Disney Suffers Setback With High Court Order Vacating Trademark Win
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its June 20 order list, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the position taken by Disney Store USA LLC in a respondent brief that Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. v. VIP Products LLC has no bearing on allegations that Disney infringed a trademark with a character in “Toy Story 3.”
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June 20, 2023
In Mixed Ruling, Copyright, Trademark Owner Prevails In Part In California
SAN DIEGO — A dispute over various trademarks and copyrighted technical drawings will proceed while allegations that other trademarks and copyrights were infringed by three defendants will be dismissed in a dispute between a security company and its former employees, a California federal judge has ruled.
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June 19, 2023
Copyright, Trademark Case By A&E Survives Motion To Dismiss In New York
NEW YORK — A trademark dispute over “Live PD” will proceed, a New York federal judge decided June 16 upon finding that A&E Television Networks LLC credibly asserts that three defendants willfully and intentionally confused the public as to their affiliation with and sponsorship of the former hit television show.
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June 14, 2023
In Trademark Dispute, University Failed To Explain Delay For Seeking Injunction
ATLANTA — A university failed to adequately explain why it waited six months to move for a preliminary injunction to stop an alumni association from using the university’s trademarks because all the evidence cited in support of the injunction was available when the university filed its complaint, an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in a per curiam opinion affirming a trial court’s denial of the injunction.
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June 12, 2023
In ‘PlasmaCar’ IP Row, Florida Federal Magistrate Judge Recommends Relief
MIAMI — A design patent, trademark and copyright owner should be granted a preliminary injunction while it pursues infringement allegations against more than 150 e-tailers, a federal magistrate judge in Florida said June 9.
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June 09, 2023
Judge Awards Juul $2M Against Counterfeiters After Bench Trial
LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on June 8 filed findings of fact and conclusions of law after a bench trial, finding in favor of Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) on its claims for violation of federal trademark statutes and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) against a Chinese national and his companies in relation to the sales of counterfeit Juul products and awarding JLI $2 million in damages plus attorney fees.
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June 08, 2023
Judgment Entered Resolving Years-Long Rolling Papers Trademark Dispute
CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge entered an amended judgment after a jury trial, ending a seven-year litigation between the makers of “Raw” and “OCB” rolling papers, with Raw’s maker awarded more than $1.5 million on its counterclaims for copyright infringement and lost profits while agreeing to pay $665,000 in attorney fees to OCB’s makers for fees incurred on its designation-of-origin claim.
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June 08, 2023
Jack Daniel’s Prevails Before High Court In Trademark Parody Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court held June 8 that parody of the Jack Daniel’s trademark in connection with a dog toy was wrongly deemed noncommercial by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, in what Justice Elena Kagan called a “narrow” opinion that would not reach the question of whether Rogers v. Grimaldi, 875 F.2d 994 (2nd Cir. 1989), “has merit in other contexts.”
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June 07, 2023
Walmart Must Provide Attorney Emails In Trade Dress Dispute With Vans Inc.
SANTA ANA, Calif. — Protections under the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine in an email chain between Walmart Inc. and its counsel were waived by disclosure of those emails to a third party and the assertion of an advice of counsel defense, a California federal magistrate judge ruled, granting a motion to compel by Vans Inc., which alleges trade dress infringement of multiple shoe designs by the retailer and its suppliers.
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June 06, 2023
Meta Again Wins Dismissal Of Copyright, Lanham Act, DMCA Putative Class Action
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California granted a motion to dismiss a photographer’s amended class complaint against Meta Inc. alleging claims of copyright infringement and violation of the Lanham and Digital Millennium Copyright acts, this time without leave to amend, finding that the claims “fare no better” under the plaintiff’s new theories related to “a convoluted combination of the ‘check-in’ and ‘prefetching’ functionalities on Facebook.”
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June 06, 2023
Amended Settlement In Grubhub Faulty Info Class Suit Preliminarily Approved
DENVER — A federal judge in Colorado granted preliminary approval to a class settlement providing injunctive relief in a lawsuit accusing Grubhub Inc. of deceiving consumers by offering faulty information regarding restaurants that did not partner with it after the parties amended the agreement to state that claims for disgorgement of profits under the Lanham Act were not released.
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June 06, 2023
9th Circuit Again Revives Antivirus Firm’s False Advertising Suit Against Rival
PORTLAND, Ore. — For the second time, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the dismissal of an antivirus software company’s Lanham Act claim against a competitor, finding the defendant’s labels of “malicious” and “threats” for the plaintiff’s products to be statements of objective fact that could potentially support a false advertising claim, rather than “non-actionable statements of opinion,” as a trial court held.
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June 05, 2023
German Entity Defaulted In Trademark, Award Fight With Twitch, Magistrate Says
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal magistrate judge recommended that a district judge grant a video-game streaming service’s motion for default judgment confirming a more than $1.5 million arbitral award against a German competitor that has not appeared in court and recommended denying a motion for leave to file an amicus curiae brief filed by German parties that claim that they own the rights to the award-debtor’s domain name.
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June 05, 2023
Supreme Court To Decide Whether Public Figures’ Names Can Be Trademarked
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Granting a petition for certiorari by the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), the U.S. Supreme Court on Junw 5 said it will consider whether declining to register a trademark that contains a criticism of a public figure violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
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May 22, 2023
COMMENTARY: Intellectual Property Legal Issues Impacting Artificial Intelligence
By Edward D. Lanquist and Dominic Rota
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May 26, 2023
Sellers Of Disposable Vapes Ask 6th Circuit To Review Injunction In Trademark Row
CINCINNATI — A distributor of disposable e-cigarette products and several retailers on May 25 filed a notice of interlocutory appeal to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals seeking to challenge a district court’s ruling preliminarily enjoining them from sales of vapes with a mark “remarkably similar” to a trademark-holder’s without requiring the trademark-holder to post a $1.8 million bond for their alleged future lost sales.
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May 24, 2023
Judge Denies TRO Sought By Reptile Show For UCL, Trademark Claims
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge denied a reptile exhibitor’s ex parte application for a temporary restraining order (TRO) barring a rival reptile show host from continuing to operate using a logo the applicant says violates its registered trademark, with the judge finding that the applicant waited too long after learning of the alleged violation to claim that it is at risk of irreparable harm.
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May 24, 2023
2nd Circuit Affirms: Models’ False Endorsement Claims Foreclosed By Electra
NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed summary judgment for the operators of a gentlemen’s club that used images of models in social media posts without their permission, rejecting the models’ argument that the lower court “misstepped by treating recognizability as the ‘bottom line’ barometer for strength of mark in false endorsement claims” under the Lanham Act.
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May 22, 2023
Federal Magistrate Judge Weighs In On IV Drip Therapy Trademark Row
AUSTIN, Texas — A federal magistrate judge in Texas recommended that a motion to dismiss trademark infringement allegations be denied in a dispute over the use of “ThrIVe” in connection with intravenous drip therapy.
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May 17, 2023
In Illinois, Lanham Act Counterclaim Survives Motion To Dismiss
CHICAGO — Counterclaims that a plaintiff falsely passed off its floor preparation product as a defendant’s will proceed, for now, a federal judge in Illinois ruled May 16.
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May 16, 2023
Fastener Maker’s Claims Of ‘Up-Certing’ Partly Rejected In Trademark Row
CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois has trimmed allegations of trademark infringement and counterfeiting leveled by a maker of commercial and military-compliant fasteners against a reseller accused of falsely certifying that the commercial fasteners are military grade.