The body of law drawn from the precedents set by earlier decisions.
A Puerto Rican chicken company abandoned its mark because it stopped using it for five years and never could offer any evidence of an intent to resume use. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has affirmed a Puerto Rican district court’s grant of summary judgment to To-Ricos for use of the mark…
District court did not abuse its discretion in determining that defendants’ profits did not result from use of infringing marks for airplane engine fuel injection systems. Though aircraft fuel-injector servo manufacturer Precision Airmotive, LLC, proved that defendants Avco Corporation and AVStar Fuel Systems, Inc., willfully infringed Precision’s federally registered trademark, it was not entitled to…
In September 2024, the Munich Court (Germany) found three defendants guilty of commercial gang fraud for sending misleading invoices to EUIPO customers. Each defendant was sentenced to 1 year and 10 months of imprisonment, suspended with a three-year probation period. The Court also ordered that the confiscation of around €200,000 – the amount the fraudsters…
In the first part of this series, we examined how geopolitical factors have contributed to a rise in trademark squatting, focusing on Russian companies taking advantage of foreign brands’ market exits due to sanctions. In this part, we delve into the case between LLC “ALAYV TRADE” and SANYO Electric Co. Ltd. “ALAYV TRADE” vs SANYO…
In its decision of 23 August 2024, the German Federal Patent Court ruled, inter alia, on the question whether a word mark is put into genuine use when it is used as part of a logo and displayed in a unique font (case no. 30 W (pat) 78/21). What happened? The opponent invoked, inter alia,…
District court did not abuse its discretion in determining that defendants’ profits did not result from use of infringing marks for airplane engine fuel injection systems. Though aircraft fuel-injector servo manufacturer Precision Airmotive, LLC, proved that defendants Avco Corporation and AVStar Fuel Systems, Inc., willfully infringed Precision’s federally registered trademark, it was not entitled to…
Trademark squatting involves registering a trademark identical or similar to an established brand to profit from its reputation. This practice thrives in jurisdictions with weaker trademark laws, often forcing disputes to hinge on bad faith arguments in court. Nowadays, the phenomenon has been evolving and taking various forms. For example, trademark squatters now register domain…
There was sufficient evidence for the jury to conclude that the manufacturer wrongfully terminated the distribution agreement. The Third Circuit affirmed a judgment for breach of contract in favor of the distributor of an implantable synthetic bone-grafting product called NanoBone. Plaintiff Artoss, Inc., sued the manufacturer, Artoss GmbH, for breach of contract after it refused…
The court also exceeded its discretion in awarding attorney fees to the plaintiff. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed part of a federal district court’s judgment in a trademark dispute between Appliance Liquidation Outlet, L.L.C. (ALO) and Axis Supply Corporation (Axis). The appellate court found that the district court erred in…
District court improperly dismissed Bacardi’s challenge to the PTO decision for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Finding no provision in the Lanham Act that expressly precludes judicial review of a trademark registration renewal decision by the USPTO Director, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia has reversed a district…
