Tag Archives: trademark

More B&B: Fraud on the PTO that led to years of extra litigation isn’t “exceptional” for fee purposes

Posted on December 21, 2018 by rtushnet

B&B Hardware, Inc. v. Hargis Industries, Inc., No. 17-1570 (8th Cir. Dec. 21, 2018) H/T C.E. Petit. This comedy of errors might (might!) be ending. The court of appeals affirmed the district court’s judgment in favor of Hargis and its … Continue reading →

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low volume of confused callers doesn’t establish irreparable harm

Posted on December 11, 2018 by rtushnet

TrueNorth Companies, L.C. v. Trunorth Warranty Plans, LLC, No. C17-31-LTS, — F.Supp.3d —-, 2018 WL 6438370 (N.D. Iowa Dec. 7, 2018) TrueNorth sued TN Warranty for trademark infringement and related claims based on the parties’ respective design logos:    plaintiff’s … Continue reading →

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Honey Badger don’t care for different reasons: court fixes artistic relevance but still doubles down on transformativeness

Posted on November 26, 2018 by rtushnet

Gordon v. Drape Creative, Inc., No. 16-56715 (9th Cir. Nov. 20, 2018) Previous opinion discussed here; amicus brief that may have influenced the court to withdraw that opinion and put out a superseding one here. The court found a triable … Continue reading →

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In which I appear as a sideshow (but ABC gets the right result on TM/(c) claim based on news report)

Posted on November 9, 2018 by rtushnet

Manigault v. ABC Inc., 17-CV-7375 (KNF), 2018 WL 5818101 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 10, 2018) I show up in this opinion because I wrote a blog post and the pro se plaintiff decided that I was some sort of publicist for ABC … Continue reading →

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A watered-down finding of TM infringement: prevailing party gets $0 and no injunction, court tells it to go home

Posted on November 8, 2018 by rtushnet

Evoqua Water Technologies LLC v. M.W. Watermark, LLC, No. 16-cv-14, 2018 WL 5784073 (W.D. Mich. Nov. 5, 2018) Eric Goldman will probably appreciate the court’s takeaway here: “Plaintiff and Defendants are not only business competitors, but also stepchildren, in a … Continue reading →

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Rally ’round the difference between valid and merely descriptive: 8th Circuit gives claimants much to ponder

Posted on November 8, 2018 by rtushnet

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Inc. v. Rushmore Photo & Gifts, Inc., — F.3d —-, 2018 WL 5726690 2018 WL 5726690, No. 17-1762, No. 17-1869, No. 17-2712, No. 17-2731 (8th Cir. Nov. 2, 2018) The court says some very interesting things about … Continue reading →

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We Buy Houses registration defeats fee award despite its genericity

Posted on October 29, 2018 by rtushnet

Express Homebuyers USA, LLC v. WBH Marketing, Inc., No. 17-cv-00736, 2018 WL 5303327 (E.D. Va. Oct. 25, 2018) Disappointingly, the court here treats assertion of registered trademarks as what seems like a complete defense to arguments that defendant should receive … Continue reading →

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allegedly perfidious salesman protected from passing off liability, but might have engaged in false advertising

Posted on October 4, 2018 by rtushnet

Burton v. Label, LLC, No. 15-CV-5793 (VSB), 2018 WL 4759735 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 30, 2018) Label, founded by the Millers, sells bespoke and custom men’s clothing throughout the United States. Schwartzman (for whom Burton is the trustee) worked for Label as … Continue reading →

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Amazon not liable for use of TM in review

Posted on October 4, 2018 by rtushnet

Sen v. Amazon.com, Inc., 2018 WL 4680018, No. 16-CV-01486-JAH-JLB (S.D. Cal. Sept. 28, 2018) Sen owns the trademark “Baiden” for skin-exfoliation products. Amazon bought “Baiden” through Google’s AdWords program and on other search engines. In 2012, Sen sued Amazon for … Continue reading →

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Non-TM owner can plead false advertising claim for confusing use of TM it used to own

Posted on September 27, 2018 by rtushnet

Desmond v. Taxi Affiliation Services LLC, 2018 WL 4589999, No. 17 C 8326 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 25, 2018) Desmond is the Chapter 7 Trustee for the Bankruptcy Estate of Yellow Cab Affiliation, a former Chicago taxicab affiliation with over 1600 … Continue reading →

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