By Olivier A. Taillieu and Jeffrey J. Zuber of Zuber & Taillieu
The Second Circuit recently “updated its jurisprudence” on personal jurisdiction “in the age of internet commerce,” using a long-arm statute to exercise personal jurisdiction over a foreign defendant accused of selling counterfeit goods over the Internet. In Chloé v. Queen Bee of Beverly Hills, LLC, 616 F.3d 158 (2nd Cir.… More...
Holding: In this dispute over an internet domain name, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has upheld the grant of injunction against any further use of the registered domain name “ISPWest.com.” Plaintiff-appellee Internet Specialties West, Inc. (“Internet Specialties”) alleged in its trademark infringement suit in the U.S. District… More...
Holding: In this trademark infringement suit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a district court’s ruling that the “OBX” mark had become generic or a geographically descriptive term without secondary meaning. Plaintiff OBX-Stock, Inc. (“OBX-Stock”) coined this term as an abbreviation for the region called “Outer Banks”… More...
Holding: The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed plaintiff Associated Press’ (“AP”) complaint that defendant All Headline News Corp. (“AHN”) infringed its trademarks in “AP,” “Associated Press,” and the “The Associated Press,” in connection with AHN’s news service. In so ruling, the district court rejected AP’s… More...
Holding: For sleeping on his rights, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has dismissed plaintiff Rudolfo Garcia’s claims that the City of Chicago infringed his service mark “Graffiti Blasters,” the name of his business that removed graffiti from buildings and other sites. Specifically, the district court held… More...
Holding: In this trademark dispute that has wide implications on sport franchises and colleges, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has concluded that universities’ school-color schemes are legally protectible marks. These consolidated appeals involved a trademark dispute between four universities and an apparel company and its principal. The… More...
Holding: The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York has ruled that Shokan Coachworks, Inc., ("Shokan"), an Audi vehicle recycling facility, infringed the "Audi" marks and logo of plaintiff Audi AG ("Audi"). Considering the strength of the "AUDI" mark, that defendants’ use was identical to Audi’s mark, and… More...
Holding: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has dismissed a trademark lawsuit by owners of the East Los Angeles strip club"The PlayPen" against Rockstar's video game depiction in "Grand Theft Auto" of a similar strip club called "The Pig Pen," located in the game's fictional city of East… More...
Holding: In this trademark infringement suit, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York restrained the use or display of Viagra marks in a condom and missile campaign promoted by defendants Arye Sachs and JetAngel.com. Plaintiff Pfizer Inc. brought this action in response to defendants' launch of a… More...
Holding: The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia dismissed a trademark infringement suit over a wholesale auction company's OnLine RingMan service mark. In this case, plaintiff Auction Management Solutions, Inc. (“AMS”) sued defendant Manheim Auctions, Inc. (“Manheim”), claiming that Manheim improperly used both a confusingly similar variant of… More...
Holding: In this case involving imported watches bearing the "Tommy" mark, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection ("Customs") may impose a civil penalty under the Tariff Act upon an importer of merchandise bearing a counterfeit mark, even though the… More...
