Mealey's Trademarks
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February 05, 2025
9th Circuit: Former Church Member Lost License To Share Teachings In 2021
SEATTLE — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with a Washington federal judge that a former member of a Seattle-based religious community did not breach a licensing agreement by uploading copyrighted church materials after the 1999 death of the organization’s founder but reversed the judge’s finding that the license was terminated in 2021.
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February 05, 2025
Judge Again Enters Injunction In Jack Daniel’s Dog Toy Trademark Fight
PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona found that a dog toy maker did not infringe on marks held by Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. but that the spirits company was still entitled to a permanent injunction because the toy that parodies the Jack Daniel’s bottle can still tarnish the alcohol marks.
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January 30, 2025
Federal Circuit Affirms Cancellation Of Japanese Candy Related Word Mark
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) was right to cancel a company’s registration for the word mark TONOSAMA, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, agreeing with the board that the mark is confusingly similar to another company’s registered trademark for the same word.
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January 29, 2025
Petitioners To High Court: Trademark Settlement ‘Fraud’ Must Be Fixed
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court must grant a writ of certiorari in a trademark infringement case because the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals wrongly allowed to stand a New York federal judge’s denial of a request to vacate a 2011 settlement in the face of an allegedly fraudulent document submitted as evidence in the case, four companies tell the high court in a recently docketed petition.
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January 28, 2025
Judge Tosses Designer’s Copyright Claims For Use Of Character On Album Art
LOS ANGELES — A designer who accused a hip-hop producer of copyright infringement for using a character he designed on multiple album covers since 1999 failed to show that the implied license granted to the producer had any kind of expiration date, a federal judge in California held, granting a motion from the producer and related entities for judgment on the pleadings.
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January 24, 2025
Judge Says First Sale Doctrine Doesn’t Apply To Software Keys
SEATTLE — The first sale doctrine does not apply to software product keys, a federal judge in Washington held Jan. 23, because those keys are not themselves copyrightable works, granting partial summary judgment as to a single affirmative defense in favor of the Microsoft Corp. against a Canadian entity and several individuals Microsoft called “prolific distributors of black market access devices to Microsoft software that they unlawfully advertise to consumers as genuine software.”
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January 21, 2025
Supreme Court Rejects Jurisdictional Appeal In Counterfeit Doll Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court left in place an opinion by the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversing a New York federal judge’s finding that the court lacked personal jurisdiction in a case brought by dollmaker American Girl LLC against a Chinese company for allegedly selling counterfeited goods; the high court denied the Chinese company’s petition for a writ of certiorari on Jan. 21.
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January 21, 2025
Medical Services Provider Accused Of Unlawfully ‘Annexing’ Sports Clinic
LOS ANGELES — Two entities involved in operating a provider of sports medicine and orthopedic surgery and two affiliated doctors filed a complaint in California state court accusing a nonprofit medical services provider and its executives of unlawfully seeking to “absorb . . . and unlawfully control” the sports medicine providers in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), trademark dilution laws and other state laws prohibiting employment-related retaliation.
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January 17, 2025
2nd Circuit: Judge Erred In Similarity Analysis In Nut Trade Dress Fight
NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 16 reversed a New York federal judge’s dismissal of a trade dress infringement dispute between competing nut companies, holding that the plaintiff company adequately alleged the possibility of confusion between the packaging of the companies’ respective pistachio products.
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January 17, 2025
Split 4th Circuit Finds MOKE Mark Genericness Finding Lacked Evidence
RICHMOND, Va. — A split Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed a Virginia federal judge’s holding that MOKE is a generic term describing a type of vehicle that is unable to be trademarked, holding that there is a “dearth of relevant evidence in the record” because the matter of genericness was raised only after the conclusion of a trial.
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January 16, 2025
9th Circuit: Kinetic Sculpture Company’s Copyright Claim Survives Dismissal
SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that a plaintiff company adequately alleged that another company infringed on copyrighted elements of its kinetic sculptures that could be manipulated into various shapes to survive a dismissal motion; the panel reversed a California federal judge’s order dismissing the copyright infringement claim.
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January 15, 2025
Ozempic Maker Sues Seller Of Compounded Drugs, Alleging Trademark Infringement
ATLANTA — The manufacturer of Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus sued a weight-loss center in Georgia that sells and promotes compounded drug products that purport to contain semaglutide for false advertising and trademark infringement in a Georgia federal court.
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January 14, 2025
AI Voice Cloning Company, Voice Actors Brief Motion To Dismiss
NEW YORK — Responding to an artificial intelligence company’s contention that voice actors’ claims were time-barred and suffered from other defects, two named class action plaintiffs told a federal judge in New York that they own the rights to their voices and that the ongoing use of cloned voices sold under different names places the case within the applicable time frame.
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January 10, 2025
Judge: Defendants Don’t Show Invalidity Of Baby Bag Trade Dress, Copyright
MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida dismissed counterclaims brought by two companies accused of trade dress and copyright infringement by the maker of baby carrier products, holding that the defendant companies failed to show that the plaintiff company’s trade dress or copyright were invalid.
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January 09, 2025
Judge Finds Probiotic Infant Product Patent Claims To Be Invalid
CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted summary judgment in favor of a defendant biopharmaceutical company accused of infringing on two patents related to probiotic products for infants, holding that the relevant claims of the patents were anticipated by prior art references.
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January 09, 2025
Company Must Produce Witness’ Lawsuit Funding Evidence In OpenAI Trademark Case
SAN FRANCISCO — A company locked in a suit with OpenAI Inc. over trademark infringement must produce documents related to a nonparty witness who is an investor and is funding the company’s defense as the evidence goes to his credibility and bias, a federal magistrate judge in California said Jan. 8. In a second order the court granted OpenAI additional time to depose the company’s founder.
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January 09, 2025
Judge: Bar’s Arbitration Arguments In Trademark Fight With Chicago Cubs Fail
CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois refused to dismiss a trademark infringement complaint brought by the Chicago Cubs Baseball Club LLC against a bar that overlooks Wrigley Field and its owner, alleging that the bar defendants knowingly falsely promote the business as a partner with the baseball team; the judge held that the bar defendants could not hinge their dismissal motion on an argument related to arbitration.
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January 07, 2025
Color Of Hip Implants Functional, Not Trademarkable, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) was correct to cancel trademarks owned by an artificial hip parts manufacturer, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, saying that the pink color of the relevant parts is a functional element referenced in the company’s now-expired patent.
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January 06, 2025
Split 9th Circuit Panel Revives Authors’ Trademark Suit Over Film Name
SAN FRANCISCO — A split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed a California federal judge’s decision to dismiss trademark claims brought by co-authors of a book called “Gringo” against makers of an otherwise unrelated film bearing the same name, with the majority holding that the co-authors plausibly alleged the likelihood of confusion between the works.
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January 06, 2025
9th Circuit Holds Equity Shares Aren’t ‘Goods’ Under Lanham Act
SAN FRANCISCO — A partly split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a California federal judge’s dismissal of an American legal services website company’s trademark infringement suit against a similarly named Japanese legal software company beginning to sell equity shares to American investors, holding that selling equity does not meet the Lanham Act’s criteria of the sales of goods and services.
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January 03, 2025
9th Circuit Affirms $56 Million Trademark Award Against Molson Coors
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A panel in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a California federal jury’s entry of a $56 million award against the Molson Coors Beverage Co. USA LLC in a trademark dispute commenced by a craft brewery that alleged that the beer giant infringed on its trademark related to the word “stone.”
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January 02, 2025
Rap Producer Appeals Dismissal Of Trademark Suit To 2nd Circuit
NEW YORK — A producer of rap music appealed to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a New York federal judge’s decision to dismiss with prejudice his copyright and trademark claims stemming from a dispute over ownership of intellectual property associated with a seminal hip-hop group; the judge held that the producer failed to show that the relevant trademark was valid.
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December 23, 2024
No Error In Jury’s Trademark Damages, 7th Circuit Says
CHICAGO — A Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said a federal judge in Illinois committed no error in allowing the question of punitive damages in a trademark infringement case involving identically named nutritional supplement products to go to jurors, who entered a combined total $900,000 in punitive damages against the defendant company and its two principals.
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December 18, 2024
9th Circuit Affirms Rejection Of Counterclaims In Aviation Trademark Dispute
SAN FRANCISCO — A Nevada federal magistrate judge did not err when it struck an airplane manufacturer’s request for a jury trial and denied it relief on its counterclaims against an airplane charter company of trademark infringement and other causes of action, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Dec. 17.
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December 13, 2024
Judge: Oil Company Can Remove Infringing Signage From Gas Station In Contempt
PHILADELPHIA — An oil and gasoline company will be allowed to remove and paint over signage at a Philadelphia gas station after a Pennsylvania federal judge held the gas station in contempt for failing to comply with a permanent injunction ordering the company remove signs bearing the oil company’s trademarks.