By The Ninth Circuit issued an interesting ruling last week regarding the ownership and status of a domain name as property. In Office Depot, Inc. v. Zuccarini, ___ F.3d ___, Feb. 26, 2010, the Ninth Circuit ruled that a judgment creditor can levy a domain name of a judgment debtor to satisfy his judgment. This ruling was interesting for a couple of reasons. First was the location where the domain name can be levied, and second the facts of the case make the result somewhat ironic.Continue Reading Need To Enforce A Judgment? Levy A Domain Name.
“The Heart Attack Grill” Commences Litigation Triage to Save Its Trade Dress
by The Heart Attack Grill in Chandler, Arizona (http://www.heartattackgrill.com) is unabashedly unhealthful. The morbidly titled restaurant proclaims its food has “a taste worth dying for,” and offers to feed all patrons 350 pounds and over for free. The menu features single through quadruple ”bypass burgers” (actual quadruple bypass burger pictured above), "flatliner fries" deep fried in pure lard, unfiltered “Lucky Strike” cigarettes, and Jolt Cola, amongst other fulsome fare. Continue Reading “The Heart Attack Grill” Commences Litigation Triage to Save Its Trade Dress
Why Establishing Trademark Use Is Not As Easy As One Would Think
by Scott Hervey
A basic prerequisite for the ownership and registration of a trademark is that the mark is “used in commerce.” The Trademark Act defines “use in commerce” as the bona fide use of a mark in the ordinary course of trade. Under the Act, a mark is deemed to be used in commerce when: (i) the mark is placed in any manner on goods, their containers, their displays, on the goods’ tags or labels and, in certain cases, on documents associated with the goods or their sale; and (ii) the goods are sold or transported in interstate commerce.Continue Reading Why Establishing Trademark Use Is Not As Easy As One Would Think
Federal Circuit Puts Generic 1800Mattress Trademark to Bed
by Scott Hervey
After four years, the quest to obtain federal trademark protection for the mark MATTRESS.COM by owner 1800Mattress.com IP, LLC, formerly Dial-A-Mattress Operating Corp, has been put to bed. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has finally held that the mark is generic and not entitled to registration.Continue Reading Federal Circuit Puts Generic 1800Mattress Trademark to Bed
When Product Resales are not Protected under the First Sale Doctrine
by Jeff Pietsch
Earlier this year, the Tenth Circuit court upheld a preliminary injunction granted in favor of an electronics equipment manufacturer against a reseller of its goods in a trademark infringement action. In Beltronics v. Midwest Inventory Distribution, the reseller (Midwest) argued that it was able to resell the manufacturer’s goods based on the first sale doctrine. The court, however, disagreed with this assessment and ruled that the resellers violated the manufacturer’s trademark rights because Midwest’s sales caused consumer confusion.Continue Reading When Product Resales are not Protected under the First Sale Doctrine