Tenth Circuit: District court’s internally inconsistent findings lead to remand In a decision last week, the Tenth Circuit reversed a district court's ruling of no trademark infringement. The district court, applying the Tenth Circuit's six likelihood of confusion factors, initially stated that three factors favored the plaintiffs, two were neutral, and one favored the defendants, but in its conclusion, stated that only one factor favored […] Continue Reading →
No evidence of intent to deceive, no inequitable conduct In a recent decision, the Federal Circuit reversed a district court's grant of summary judgment of inequitable conduct against the patentee. At issue was whether the patentee's failure to disclose a letter describing an aspect of the prior art constituted inequitable conduct. The court reversed finding that the alleged infringer had failed to provide sufficient […] Continue Reading →
Ninth Circuit: First sale doctrine doesn’t apply to goods purchased abroad and imported to US In a decision last week, the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's grant of summary judgment to a copyright defendant on the basis of the "first sale" doctrine, codified at 17 U.S.C. § 109(a). The defendant obtained the products bearing the copyright from a third party who legally purchased them outside the United States. The […] Continue Reading →
First Circuit: Don’t expect to win on appeal if you admit 7 of 8 likelihood of confusion factors In a decision Friday, the First Circuit affirmed a district court's summary judgment of trademark infringement and an associated award of the defendant's profits and attorney fees to the plaintiff. The defendant used the plaintiff's registered marks in both the metatags of its website as well as in white text on a white background in […] Continue Reading →