Trademark Law | Expert Legal Commentary
January 27, 2009
Audi v. Shokan Coachworks: Trademark Infringement in Email Signature
Audi AG v. Shokan Coachworks, Inc.
By
Olivier A. Taillieu of Zuber & Taillieu and D. Dennis La
In the case Audi AG v. Shokan Coachworks Inc., 2008 WL 4911730, No. 1:07-CV-00173 (N.D.N.Y. 2008), the federal district court grappled with a slew of trademark claims, combining into one opinion many of the issues raised by a number of other previous courts. Specifically, the court could not grant summary judgment in Audi’s favor on one issue because it did not properly authenticate archive.org website printouts. The court also joined the ranks of many federal district courts that chose the 9th Circuit test for nominative fair use over the 3rd Circuit court’s test. The parties’ previous settlement agreement, in which certain limited uses were allowed, played a major role in the outcome of the cross-motions for summary judgment.
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About the Author
Olivier A. Taillieu is a Partner of Zuber & Taillieu, focusing on intellectual property litigation and arbitration.
Image Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/tomazl
