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Precedential No. 51: TTAB Dismisses Morehouse and Laches Defenses, Denies Summary Judgment in 2(d) Opposition

In a quasi-procedural precedential ruling, the Board denied Applicant Jim Hugunin's motion for judgment on the pleadings (which the Board treated as a motion for summary judgment in view of Hugunin's submission of evidence outside the pleadings). Once again the toothless tiger known as the Morehouse defense was rejected by the Board, this time because Applicant's prior registration for LAND O LAKES had expired. As to his laches defense, Opposer Land O' Lakes churned up enough factual issues to preclude the issuance of summary judgment. Land O' Lakes, Inc. v. Hugunin, Opposition No. 91182399 (November 20, 2008) [precedential].The Morehouse defense: The never-popular Morehouse defends stands for the proposition that, as a matter of law, an opposer cannot be damaged by a second registration when the applicant already has an existing, unchallenged registration of the same mark for the same goods...continue to full post

Full post as published by The TTABlog on December 02, 2008 (boomark / email).