Plaintiff is the manufacturer of high-end military style watches, known as MTM Special Ops watches. Defendant, retailer Amazon.com, does not sell these watches, but when a potential buyer inserts “MTM Special Ops” onto its website, a message will direct the person to related searches of “MTM special ops watch,” and show images of watches manufactured […]
Tacking Trademarks.
Rights to a trademark are determined by the date of the mark’s first use in commerce. The party who first uses a mark in commerce is said to have priority over other users. In limited circumstances, a party may modify its mark and still maintain its priority position, a doctrine known as tacking. The United […]
No Duty To Defend In Disparagement Case.
An insurance company denied patent and trademark liability coverage to a manufacturer of goods and services because the suit did not allege the company disparaged its competitor. The appellate court agreed with the insurance company that it had no duty to defend. The case was eventually heard in the California Supreme Court which held: “We […]
Trademark Not Abandoned.
A bank acquired an insurance/financial services company and changed the name of the newly acquired company, but continued to display the former trademark in order to maintain the website and metatags and accept customer payments. A few years later, the bank did not renew registration of the trademark. Former employees of the company the bank acquired launched […]
Designer Brand Counterfeit Knock-Offs.
Defendants had a business of selling handbags, clothing and jewelry bearing the unauthorized names and logos of Chanel, Coach, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Rock & Republic, Tiffany, True Religion, TAG Heuer, Rolex and Hublot, all of which brands have registered trademarks. Investigators seized over 13,000 such items from defendants’ San Diego store. In separate criminal trials, two […]
Why Did The Mushroom Go To The Party? Because he’s a . . .
In a trademark infringement action, a wholly owned subsidiary of a Japanese company brought an action against another company for violating its rights to marks under which it markets its Certified Organic Mushrooms, which are produced in the USA. Plaintiff claimed defendant wrongly imported and marketed mushrooms under its marks for Certified Organic Mushrooms, but which […]
Trademark Infringement – Smoke Got In Their Eyes.
In a trademark infringement claim involving the vocal group, The Platters, the Ninth Circuit considered whether the likelihood of irreparable harm must be established, rather than presumed, by a plaintiff seeking injunctive relief in the trademark infringement context. The appeals court decided a showing was required and reversed the district court’s grant of an injunction. (Herb Reed […]