Evidence that the defending firm’s ads confused consumers was “de minimis,” and online shoppers were savvy enough to distinguish between ads and organic search results. The sophisticated nature of online consumers, the lack of evidence of actual confusion, and other factors weighed against finding that there was a likelihood of confusion from a personal injury…
Federal Circuit rules Illinois litigation privilege bars claims in long-running trade dress dispute, but upholds some counterclaims. In a nonprecedential ruling that could impact how companies settle intellectual property disputes, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has overturned a $10 million jury verdict against tire manufacturer Toyo Tire Corporation. The court found…
However, the dissenting group’s use of the trademark on its website did not create a likelihood of confusion where the dissenters clearly identified the dispute between themselves and the Libertarian National Committee. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld in part, and denied in part, a district court’s preliminary injunction against the…
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…
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…
The jury award of $340,000 for lost profits was not excessive but the trial court gave improper jury instructions on punitive damages. Following a jury trial in Louisville, Kentucky that resulted in a mixed verdict, the federal appeals court in Cincinnati, Ohio has affirmed a jury award of $340,000 for lost profits on a trademark…
A news publication could not rely on First Amendment protection for its use of a mark even though it made no attempt to parody the original. A news publication named with a common English language word could not invoke the First Amendment to protect it against a trademark claim against the owner of that mark—even…
