The trade dress of a wedge-shaped candy, colored to resemble a slice of watermelon, was determined to be functional and not eligible for protection under federal trademark law. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a summary judgment decision by a New Jersey district court, ruling that a candy maker could not…
It is understandable why (most) trademarks owners do not like the five-year dependency period of an international registration since in case of “central attack” or refusal of the basic application, they face cancellation of their international registration. However, it’s less understandable why the judges of the EU General Court (GC) do not like it, unless…
The district court failed to analyze the appropriate preliminary injunction factors on a motion to enforce a settlement agreement with factual disputes. In a trademark dispute over the “GTRACING” mark for video game chairs between two Asian-centered businesses, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has lifted an injunction on a motion to…
The court found that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) decision was supported by substantial evidence. A real estate brokerage’s proposed mark was likely to be confused with a prior registration, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has held. The TTAB’s prior analysis as to each of the DuPont factors was supported by…
A long legal battle over the status of “the greatest of all cheeses,” comes to an apparent end. A federal court in Virginia correctly relied on standards of identity written by the Food and Drug Administration to conclude that the word GRUYERE was not entitled to geographical trademark protection, the U.S. Court of Appeals for…
The Chinese company acted with the requisite bad faith under the ACPA when it bought and re-registered the domain name, which was identical to several registered trademarks owned by the insurance and financial services giant. A Chinese Internet company that distributes financial and economic information to Chinese consumers had the bad faith intent to profit…
District court failed to draw inferences in favor of nonmoving party in finding no likelihood of confusion. The federal district court in Miami erred in awarding summary judgment for a title insurance company regarding its use of the mark ‘FOREMOST,’ the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has held. The Eleventh Circuit found…
“To grant trade-dress protection for Pocket Plus,” the court said, “would be to hand it a monopoly over the ‘best’ portable-pouch design,” which trademark law precludes. In a trade-dress infringement suit by portable pouch maker Pocket Plus against its direct competitor Running Buddy, an Iowa district court’s grant of summary judgment to Running Buddy was…
A district court was too hasty in rejecting the safe distance rule. A federal district court in Detroit must reconsider its decision to allow the Indian maker of an off-road vehicle to release a redesigned product that ostensibly did not infringe the trade dress of the venerable Jeep brand, the U.S. Court of Appeals for…
The district court erred in considering the failure to produce evidence of actual confusion at this preliminary stage, but the error did not affect the outcome. The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware correctly denied a preliminary injunction after it concluded that the trademark holder failed to provide evidence of irreparable harm in the absence…
