distributor
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Foreign Manufacturer Continues to Own Its Mark
Liger6, LLC v. Sarto is right in my wheelhouse, two claimants to the same mark. I passed on it at the district court level, though, because it wasn’t particularly remarkable. However, there is a decision on appeal now, and it’s a slow news week for non-Covid news. The district court opinion is marked “Not for […] Continue reading
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Unauthorized Registration As Material Breach
I just ran across this older opinion upon seeing a more recent opinion in the case on attorneys’ fees. The situation was interesting enough to make me go back and find the earlier decision. Defendant Otkrytoe Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo “Spartak” is a Belarusian company specializing in the production of chocolate. Spartak entered into a non-exclusive supply […] Continue reading
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Who Should Own the Trade Dress?
Oneida Group, Inc. v. Steelite International U.S.A. Inc. is a demonstration of how our jurisprudence is essentially useless in deciding trademark ownership claims. The dispute is over ownership of the trade dress in the highly successful “Botticelli” and “Nexus” tableware patterns, part of Oneida’s “Sant’ Andrea” line: The tableware is considered premier and sold to […] Continue reading
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A Pretty Lousy Test
By now you should have read John Welch‘s excellent report on the Federal Circuit opinion in Lyons v. The American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation; you can also find more background from me on the Board decision here. Despite my fondness for ownership cases, I wish this wasn’t one, or at least I […] Continue reading
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What Is the Goal?
Super Sabre Society v. Frazier is an opposition to the registration of a logo, filed in both black and white and color, for association services: Applicant Frazier had been a founder, the first CEO and a board member of the Super Sabre Society, an organization for those who flew the F-100 Super Sabre. No one […] Continue reading
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Third Circuit Adopts the Standard Test
The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, took an opportunity to clarify the doctrine to be used when deciding, as between a manufacturer and distributor, who owns the trademark. The decision is a wee bit puzzling only because it makes much of what didn’t look like much at the trial court level. The court […] Continue reading
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Maybe Invented, But Not Used
Trademark ownership isn’t susceptible to an easy rubric. In The American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation v. Lyons, it might have appeared to the registrant, Lyons, that the facts were in her favor based on traditional elements considered when deciding ownership. But, looking at the big picture, the TTAB found otherwise. In 1999 […] Continue reading
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§ 21 Affirmance of Nic-Out
I just went on a tirade against the manufacturer-distributor presumption, arguing that the doctrine is meant to apply where “distributor” means “reseller,” not the more complicated case where the so-called “distributor” has some say in how the goods are produced. And here is an example of the relationship the doctrine was meant for—properly applied by […] Continue reading
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Just Because You Don’t Manufacture Doesn’t Mean You’re a “Distributor”
John Welch at The TTABlog summarizes a case that is characterized as a manufacturer-distributor dispute over the ownership of the mark “UVF861” for UV light bulbs. John does a thorough job summarizing the case, which I won’t repeat here. In its opinion, the TTAB applied the presumption that in a manufacturer-distributor relationship, the manufacturer owns […] Continue reading
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Sometimes It’s That Easy
Legal doctrine has developed a manufacturer-distributor paradigm, but that is too simplistic in today’s commercial world. What we have in ACRO Biosystems v. Acrobiosystems USA LLC, an opposition, is manufacturer versus branch office. The opposer is a Chinese manufacturer of biochemical reagents sold in the US under the mark ACROBIOSYSTEMS. The applicants are a US […] Continue reading
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