News & Analysis as of

Lanham Act Appeals

McAfee & Taft

Abitron v. Hetronic — Damages reduced on remand

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In a tIPsheet article titled “SCOTUS rules Lanham Act does not have extraterritorial reach” published on July 20, 2023, we discussed Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic Int’l, Inc., 600 U.S. 412 (2023), a U.S. Supreme Court case...more

McDermott Will & Emery

David-Versus-Goliath Trademark Victory Isn’t “Exceptional”

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The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated an award of attorneys’ fees for reanalysis, explaining that the district court’s finding that the case was “exceptional” under the Lanham Act was based on policy...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Smart Choice: Survey Design Didn’t Render Survey Unreliable

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Underscoring its faith in a jury’s competency to use its “common sense and experience” in evaluating evidence, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s judgment in favor of the defendants in a...more

McDermott Will & Emery

What Makes a Trademark Case “Exceptional” in the Fifth Circuit?

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The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a senior party mark but found that the district court committed clear error in finding that a similar junior party mark was valid. The Fifth Circuit also found that the...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Rum Wars: Lanham Act Doesn’t Preclude Judicial Review of PTO Renewal Decisions

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The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed and remanded a district court’s ruling, holding that the Lanham Act does not foreclose an Administrative Procedure Act (APA) action for judicial review of the US Patent...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Sour Grapes: Winery Minority Ownership Insufficient for Statutory Standing at Trademark Board

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a petition seeking to cancel the registered marks of two wineries, finding the petitioner (a trust owning an interest in a competitor winery) lacked...more

BakerHostetler

To NAD or Not to NAD: How Being a Challenger in a Self-Regulatory Dispute May Land You in Federal Court

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We get asked all the time to lay out the pros and the cons of different ways a company can challenge a competitor’s false advertising. And no surprise -- we are big fans of the National Advertising Division (NAD) process,...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Foreign Sales to Foreign Customers Are Not Actionable Under the Lanham Act

Issuing a revised opinion following the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic Int’l, Inc., the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit determined that none of the defendant’s purely foreign sales...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Hot Mess? Second Circuit Douses Injunction Based on Weak Mark

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a district court’s grant of preliminary injunction for abuse of discretion based on an erroneous evaluation of the strength of the “inherently descriptive” marks at...more

McDermott Will & Emery

A Lesson in Laches: You Waited Too Long to Start Your Kar

After the district court, on remand, held that laches did not bar relief, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit again determined that the district court abused its discretion by not properly applying the presumption...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Make Sure You Behave and Keep Those Hands Clean: How Deceit and Bad Table Manners Can Bite

Last week in Luv n’ Care, Ltd. v. Laurain, the Federal Circuit put the lower court in time out and probably made Eazy-PZ, LLC (EZPZ) cry just a little bit harder. In this precedential decision involving U.S. Patent No....more

McDermott Will & Emery

ITU Applicants Beware: Federal Courts Have Jurisdiction Over Pending Trademark Applications

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The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part a district court’s ruling in a trademark dispute, upholding its decision to invalidate trademark applications. The Ninth Circuit held that district courts have...more

Proskauer - Minding Your Business

Ninth Circuit Provides Further Guidance on Trademark Lawsuits Involving “Expressive Works”

We previously discussed the United States Supreme Court’s June 2023 Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products, LLC decision, which altered the way the “Rogers test,” a doctrine designed to protect First Amendment...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Wavy Baby’s Shoes Not Entitled to Special First Amendment Protections

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40 years ago, I was the new kid in 6th grade – truly a terrible age in a young girl’s life to try and “fit in” at a new elementary school in a small town. But, one of my best memories from that year was procuring my first...more

McDermott Will & Emery

First Amendment Bowled Over by Lanham Act – Again

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In response to the Supreme Court of the United States’ ruling in Jack Daniel’s, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reconsidered its 2022 decision in Punchbowl v. AJ Press and determined that Jack Daniel’s reset...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Sorry—No Finality, No Injunction, No Appellate Jurisdiction

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The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit dismissed an appeal from the denial of a motion under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) for an ex parte seizure order, explaining that such orders are not final, not effectively...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

What’s in a Name? Too Much to Trademark According to the USPTO

With the U.S. Supreme Court beginning a new session, many are wondering what new issues the Court will address this term. One case the Court is scheduled to hear involves the relationship between the Lanham Act and First...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - October 2023: A Limit to Cancel Culture? Federal Circuit Finds Fraud in Connection with Section 15 Declaration...

In 2021, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board cancelled Great Concepts, LLC’s trademark registration for the mark DANTANNA’S for restaurant services under Section 14, after finding that counsel for the Registrant committed...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Just How Similar Must Competing Marks Be to Survive Dismissal?

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After a de novo review, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s motion to dismiss, finding the competing marks sufficiently similar to avoid dismissal, and the...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Watermelon Sugar: Candy Shape and Color Deemed Functional

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The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a district court’s decision that a candymaker cannot trademark the shape and colors of watermelon candy, finding that the combined colors and shape of the candy are...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Back to the Future: Prior Third-Party Settlement Doesn’t Impact Future Trademark Licensees

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that under certain circumstances a trademark licensee can bring a claim against a third party for unfair competition under the Lanham Act even if the licensing agreement...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Disgorgement of Profits Appropriate Remedy for Breach of Contract, Trademark Infringement

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In a trademark infringement and breach of contract case involving real estate companies with a shared name, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of the trademark owner, including...more

AEON Law

Patent Poetry: Ninth Circuit: Specific Knowledge Needed to Prove Contributory Trademark Infringement

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The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has found that specific knowledge is required for liability in a case of contributory trademark infringement. The case is Y.Y.G.M. SA, DBA Brandy Melville v. Redbubble, Inc.,...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Courts and Brand Owners Struggling With SCOTUS Decision Limiting Ability to Police Against Foreign Trademark Infringement

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The U.S. Supreme Court’s end-of-term decision in Abitron v. Hetronic seems to have created more questions than answers about U.S. brand owners’ ability to leverage the federal Lanham Act in global trademark disputes. In the...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Burst That Bubble: Specific Knowledge Necessary to Prove Contributory Trademark Infringement

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit addressed contributory trademark infringement for the first time, finding that specific knowledge is required for liability to attach. Y.Y.G.M. SA, DBA Brandy Melville v....more

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