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Mealey's Trademarks

  • October 04, 2024

    Federal Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment On Counterclaim In Crocs’ Patent Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Colorado was wrong to grant summary judgment in favor of Crocs Inc. on a counterclaim of false advertising brought by a defendant shoe company in a sprawling patent infringement case originally filed nearly two decades ago, a panel of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Oct. 3.

  • October 04, 2024

    Judge Denies Code Publisher’s Injunction Bid, Citing Likely Fair Use

    PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania denied a motion for a preliminary injunction brought by a publisher of technical standards for a number of industries, holding that the publisher is unlikely to prevail on claims of both copyright and trademark infringement it brought against a company it said posted copies of its codes to its website without permission; the judge agreed with the defendant company and certain of its executives that a fair use defense likely applies.

  • October 02, 2024

    Judge: Confusion Not Likely Between Competing Irish Butter Trade Dresses

    NEW YORK — A federal judge largely granted a defendant food company’s motion for summary judgment in a trademark dispute involving the packaging of Irish butter, holding that the company’s butter is unlikely to be confused with the Irish butter sold by a plaintiff company due to dissimilarities in the packaging.

  • October 02, 2024

    Judge OKs Preliminary Injunction In Patent Fight Over Wall Socket Cover

    MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida granted a plaintiff electrical appliance company’s motion for a preliminary injunction on the company’s claims that a defendant company violated its patent with an allegedly infringing wall socket organizer product, affirming a federal magistrate judge’s holding that the plaintiff company adequately displayed its likelihood of success on the merits.

  • October 01, 2024

    11th Circuit Affirms Judge’s Entry Of Trademark Suit Settlement Terms

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 30 rejected arguments from the former president of a servicemembers’ families organization in a trademark dispute with the organization after her ouster, holding that an Alabama federal judge did not introduce new settlement terms into an order memorializing the settlement between the parties that were not agreed upon.

  • September 30, 2024

    Advertisers Appeal Order Requiring Wind-Down Of Use Of Marks To 9th Circuit

    LOS ANGELES — Defendant advertising firms that were ordered by a California federal judge to begin winding down their use of marks a plaintiff firm says infringe on its word mark “MARS” on Sept. 27 appealed the judge’s entry of a preliminary injunction in the plaintiff firm’s favor.

  • September 27, 2024

    2nd Circuit Affirms $33M In Damages In Diabetic Test Strip Trademark Fight

    NEW YORK — A panel of judges in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 26 upheld a New York federal judge’s entry of default judgment and damages against a wholesaler and its principals accused by a manufacturer of diabetic test strips of trademark infringement for selling the strips without permission, holding that the wholesaler’s intentional withholding of discovery information justified the finding.

  • September 27, 2024

    Judge: Rogers Test Precludes Trademark Suit Over F1 Team Leader’s Book

    LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California dismissed with prejudice a trademark infringement suit brought by a motor vehicle parts company against a member of the Formula 1 team it owns and his publisher, holding that the team member’s use of the company’s logos in photos in his book about his time in F1 are not infringing.

  • September 25, 2024

    Judge: Man Owes Millions For Using American Airlines Marks In Hiring Grift

    MIAMI — A man accused by American Airlines Inc. of trademark and copyright infringement for using the company’s intellectual property while allegedly running a scheme to trick job applicants into paying for fake background checks owes the company more than $3 million in damages and attorney fees, a federal judge in Florida held after granting summary judgment to the airline on most of its claims.

  • September 23, 2024

    Judge Largely Denies Summary Judgment Bids In Penn State Cybersquatting Suit

    HARRISBURG, Pa. — In a pair of lengthy orders, a federal judge in Pennsylvania granted summary judgment in favor of the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) on a counterclaim of reverse domain name hijacking brought by a defendant recreational vehicle (RV) company the university said infringed on certain of its trademarks, holding that the RV company failed to show that the university caused the relevant domain name to be suspended.

  • September 20, 2024

    1st Circuit: Puerto Rican Food Company Abandoned Chicken Mark

    BOSTON — A federal judge in Puerto Rico correctly held that a defendant food company abandoned its POLLO PICÚ mark when granting summary judgment in favor of a plaintiff company that sought to use the mark, a panel of judges in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Sept. 19, saying the defendant company failed to show that it intended to resume its use of the mark.

  • September 20, 2024

    Most Claims In Pesticide Trademark, Copyright Row Survive Motion To Dismiss

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio largely denied a defendant pesticide manufacturer’s motion to dismiss some trademark and copyright infringement claims brought against it by competitor plaintiff companies who allege that the defendant copied package design, holding that the plaintiff companies plausibly alleged infringement.

  • September 19, 2024

    5th Circuit Agrees Art Education Company Did Not Infringe On Artist’s Work

    NEW ORLEANS — A Texas federal judge rightly held that that a company selling art kits to students during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic did not infringe on an artist’s work by basing elements of the product on a series of dog paintings, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Sept. 18, determining that the fair use defense applied.

  • September 18, 2024

    2nd Circuit: No Jurisdictional Issues In American Girl’s Trademark Suit

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York was wrong to hold that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over a Chinese company accused by dollmaker American Girl LLC of selling counterfeited products, a panel of judges in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held on Sept. 17; the panel said American Girl adequately showed that the Chinese company sold the alleged counterfeits in New York.

  • September 17, 2024

    Judge Orders Wind-Down Of Use Of Infringing Mark In Trademark Dispute

    LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California granted a plaintiff advertising company’s motion for a preliminary injunction barring defendant advertising firms from using marks that the plaintiff says infringe on its word mark “MARS”; the judge gave the defendant companies six months to wind down their use of the allegedly offending marks.

  • September 16, 2024

    Company Agrees To Drop References To Lilly Drugs In Compound Medication Ads

    DENVER — Eli Lilly and Co. and HydraMed IV LLC have reached a settlement to end a trademark infringement dispute, with the mobile IV treatment company HydraMed agreeing to a permanent injunction barring the company from advertising or selling compounded medications that lead consumers to believe that they are generic versions of Lilly’s weight loss medications.

  • September 12, 2024

    Federal Judge Enjoins Trump Campaign From Further Uses Of Soul Song

    ATLANTA — A federal judge in Georgia on Sept. 11 partially granted a motion from the estate of a songwriter and the company that manages his works to bar former President Donald J. Trump and associated entities from using a soul tune from the 1960s at future campaign appearances, but the judge held that the estate and the company are not harmed by videos of the song being used at past campaign stops.

  • September 12, 2024

    Judge Won’t Bar Nonprofit From Using Contested Trademark In Economic Report

    LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California denied a plaintiff nonprofit organization’s bid for a temporary restraining order against another nonprofit organization, saying “there are significant questions regarding ownership” of the trademark LATINO GDP, which the plaintiff organization claims to own.

  • September 11, 2024

    AI Copyright Plaintiffs Oppose Midjourney’s Request For Trade Dress Clarification

    SAN FRANCISCO — Plaintiffs in an artificial intelligence image copyright suit told a court its ruling on several motions to dismiss already rejected AI creator Midjourney Inc.’s arguments, leaving nothing to address in the company’s motion for the court to clarify what “concrete elements” are in the plaintiffs’ trade dress.

  • September 11, 2024

    Ohio Federal Judge Tosses Trademark Dispute Over Use Of Word ‘Chipotle’

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio dismissed a man’s trademark infringement suit against a food manufacturing company, holding that the company did not infringe the man’s registered trademarks on phrases related to a type of pepper in salsas because the company used the words descriptively without a risk of confusion with the man’s products.

  • September 03, 2024

    Judge: Competing Rum Maker Can Intervene In Bacardi’s Fight With Trademark Office

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A federal judge in Virginia granted an unopposed motion to allow a rum manufacturer to act as an intervenor in a case brought by its competitor against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) on claims that the office inappropriately allowed the company to renew a trademark a decade after its expiration.

  • August 29, 2024

    6th Circuit Largely Upholds Preliminary Injunction In Libertarians’ Trademark Row

    CINCINNATI — A panel of judges in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 28 largely affirmed a Michigan federal judge’s preliminary injunction barring a group within the Libertarian Party of Michigan from using a party trademark during a succession dispute after party leadership departures, but the panel held that the group can use the mark to solicit donations online where the difference between the warring factions is adequately described.

  • August 28, 2024

    Federal Judge: Plaintiff Clothing Brand Unlikely To Prevail In Trademark Fight

    CLEVELAND — A federal judge in Ohio granted a defendant clothing designer’s motion for a preliminary injunction in a trademark dispute over a reference to a 2000s comedy film, enjoining a plaintiff clothier from further attempts at contacting social media companies to take down the defendant company’s accounts without the court’s approval; the judge said the defendant company substantiated the likelihood that it would succeed in showing that there was no infringement.

  • August 26, 2024

    3rd Circuit: No Fees Due In Trade Dress Dispute Over Whiteboards

    PHILADELPHIA — A panel of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 23 upheld a Pennsylvania federal judge’s denial of attorney fees to the defendant company in a trade dress dispute between two school material manufacturers, agreeing that the case did not reach the level of exceptionality required by the Lanham Act for attorney fees to be recoverable.

  • August 26, 2024

    Federal Judge: Artist’s Trademark, Copyright Claims Against Amazon Largely Survive

    RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A federal judge in California partly denied a motion from Amazon.com Inc. to dismiss a complaint brought against it by an artist, holding that the artist adequately established that the defendant infringed upon his trademarks by selling counterfeited works, but noted that the artist conceded that he failed to establish other elements of his claims.