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Intellectual Property Law

Seattle Trademark Lawyer

Reports on trademark law developments from Seattle and beyond. Covers trademark infringement, dilution, cybersquatting, right to publicity, domain name disputes, and the like, with an emphasis on happenings in the Seattle area and Ninth Circuit.
By Michael Atkins

Post Frequency: 5.4/day

Last Entry: March 30, 2011 at 00:20:04

Court Denies King Pharmaceuticals' Injunction Motions Against ZymoGenetics

Posted on December 13, 2009
In a reversal of fortune, the Eastern District of Tennessee denied motions for preliminary injunction that King Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and other drug manufacturers brought against Seattle-based ZymoGenetics, Inc. The order was a departure from the way the case began...

Federal Registration Owned by Someone Else No Defense to Cybersquatting

Posted on December 09, 2009
This Central District of California case of Monex Deposit Co. v. Gilliam efficiently dispatched a creative but unpersuasive defense to cybersquatting: “You don’t have any trademark rights to enforce against me, since someone else owns the federal registration to that mark...

Article Explains Process for Releasing New Generic Top-Level Domain Names

Posted on December 09, 2009
It may not happen soon, but if and when it does, this article from the ABA IP law section’s Landslide magazine will help you get up to speed on ICANN’s process for releasing new generic top-level domain names. Why aren’t brand owners excited about this potential development? As authors Anthony J...

Western District Finds Trademark Claims Had Enough Merit to Avoid Fees Award

Posted on December 08, 2009
In Atlas Equipment Co., LLC v. Weir Slurry Group, Inc., plaintiff and a third-party defendant sought attorney’s fees under the Lanham Act against counterclaimants/third-party plaintiffs Weir Slurry and Weir Minerals Australia, Ltd. (collectively, “Weir”), arguing those parties’ counterclaims and third-party claims for “reverse passing off” and trade dress infringement were baseless and pursued for too long...

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Second Circuit Once Again Remands "Mr. Charbucks" Dilution Decision

Posted on December 06, 2009
The MR. CHARBUCKS dilution saga continues. (See previous STL posts on the case here and here.) In 2005, the Southern District of New York found that defendant Wolfe’s Borough Coffee, Inc.’s MR. CHARBUCKS trademark for coffee did not dilute Starbucks Corp...

Cool But Scary: Trademark Filings Can Signal Product Strategy

Posted on December 03, 2009
Seattle TechFlash blogger Eric Engleman wonders here and here whether Amazon.com’s federal trademark application signals that the company’s KINDLE electronic book reader will soon turn into a social networking device. As he reports, Amazon...

Trademark Tips for Green Startups Apply to All Companies

Posted on December 02, 2009
Graham & Dunn’s own GreenTech blog is on a roll with three posts in recent weeks on trademark issues affecting the “green economy”: The post, “Trademarks and ‘Green Depletion,’” questions whether green startups are running out of good names...

STL Turns 3!

Posted on December 01, 2009
STL turned three today! Woo-hoo! It’s been a lot of fun. Looking forward to three more!

Washington Supreme Court Affirms $8M Default Judgment as Discovery Sanction

Posted on December 01, 2009
If you ever practice in Washington — even pro hac vice — I’ve got a case you should know about. It isn’t a trademark case, but any case in which discovery sanctions result in a $8 million default judgment is worth heeding...

WTO Riots Ten Years Later: The Tension Continues Between Trade and Rights

Posted on November 29, 2009
10 years ago: the “Battle in Seattle” WTO riots The World Trade Organization came to Seattle ten years ago. Protests and riots ensued. Seattleites won’t soon forget the tear gas, smashed windows, police in riot gear, out-of-town “anarchists,” giant ninja turtles, and chants of “The whole world is watching!” Of course, the tension between international trade and human rights that existed then still exists today...

Western District Denies Priceline.com's Motion to Dismiss False Advertising Claim

Posted on November 25, 2009
STL readers may recall that Expedia, Inc., and Hotels.com, L.P., this summer sued Priceline.com in the Western District for false advertising. Expedia and Hotels.com allege that Priceline’s advertisements mislead customers into believing that they can achieve a 50% savings on any hotel reservation made on the Priceline Web site when the advertised savings are available, if at all, only with Priceline’s “name your own price” feature...

Court Finds Nine Year Delay Too Long to Sustain Trademark Infringement Suit

Posted on November 24, 2009
Plaintiff ExperExchange, Inc., licenses its optical character recognition (OCR) software to manufacturers and software developers. Defendant DocuLex, Inc., is a software development company that sells document management software. In May 1999, DocuLex entered into a license agreement with ExperExchange...

Parties Agree that Plaintiff Has Exclusive Right to "Seattle Home Show" Trademark

Posted on November 22, 2009
There’s only one “Seattle Home Show.” And it’s run by Seattle Home Show Inc. That’s what plaintiff Seattle Home Show Inc. and defendant HSD, LLC, agreed in a Stipulation and Agreed Order of Dismissal filed in the Western District on Nov...

Ninth Circuit Remands Cybersquatting Case to Western District

Posted on November 18, 2009
In 2007, the Western District of Washington found that counterclaim plaintiff Vericheck, Inc., had proven its cybersquatting case against counterclaim defendant David Lahoti. (STL post on the summary judgment order here; post on the bench trial decision here...

Twilight-Themed Restaurant Re-Thinking Its "Volterra" Name

Posted on November 17, 2009
Fans can get their fix at a forthcoming Twilight-themed restaurant,though it may not be named Volterra. The owners of a forthcoming Twilight-themed restaurant are thinking twice about their name. Tim and Annette Root own Dazzled by Twilight, a Forks, Wash...

Ninth Circuit Affirms Judgment Sanction and $1M Award Against Counterfeiter

Posted on September 30, 2009
You destroy evidence; you lose. That’s what the Ninth Circuit concluded when it affirmed the District of Nevada’s sanction of default judgment against alleged counterfeiters Sungale Group, Inc., Sungale Electronics, Ltd., and Amoisonic Electronics, Inc...

Olympic Lawsuit Statistics, Domain Name Dispute Over Chicago2016.com

Posted on September 29, 2009
Last week a reader asked if the U.S. Olympic Committee has filed the same number of trademark lawsuits in recent years that it has filed in the past. Interesting question. The federal courts’ PACER database only goes back to 1988 (as best I can tell)...

Restaurant Holding Company Chow Food Sues Over Seattle's New Chao-Bistro Bar

Posted on September 28, 2009
Local tongues are wagging over this one — Chow Food Management Services LLC is suing Yamashiro’s, LLC, d/b/a Chao-Bistro Bar. The suit, filed Sept. 23 in King County Superior Court, alleges that Capitol Hill’s newly-opened Chao-Bistro Bar infringes Chow Food’s state registration for CHOW...

A First for STL: A Trademark Tax Case

Posted on September 24, 2009
This is first for STL: a tax case. In Blistex Bracken v. City of Seattle, the City imposed a business and occupation (B & O) tax on the licensor of the BLISTEX, BLISTIK and BLIST-FZE trademarks it owns for lip balm and skin care products to Blistex, Inc...

One More Sports Illustrated Story on the USOC's Ham-Fisted Enforcement Efforts

Posted on September 23, 2009
Last Olympic post for a while, I promise. And I’m almost certain it’s the last time this year I’ll quote from Sports Illustrated. But here’s another gem from SI about the USOC’s ham-fisted efforts to enforce its rights to all things Olympic...

Olympic Businesses Everywhere: Sports Illustrated Nails the USOC's "Comic Opera"

Posted on September 22, 2009
A reporter put me onto an excellent Sports Illustrated article written during the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul. Author Leigh Montville writes about being “On the Trail of the O-Word,” in which he concludes that ”[d]espite official efforts to curb unsanctioned use of the word ‘Olympic,’” it is “here, there and everywhere...

Despite Sending Many Letters, the USOC Has Only Brought Three Suits Since 2008

Posted on September 21, 2009
For all of the reasons discussed here, here, and here, STL has not been a fan of the United States Olympic Committee’s efforts to enforce its near monopoly rights in the U.S. over commercial use of the word “Olympic...

Ninth Circuit Finds No Secondary Meaning, No Foul in Trade Dress Case

Posted on September 17, 2009
Art Attacks’ “Spoiled Brats” designs (top) and MGA’s “Bratz” dolls:No secondary meaning, no foul Plaintiff Art Attacks Ink, LLC, sells a “Spoiled Brats” collection of t-shirts featuring cartoonish, predominantly female characters, with oversized eyes, disproportionately large heads and feet, makeup, and bare midriffs...

Ninth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of False Advertising Claim Over Wasp Larvae

Posted on September 16, 2009
Spalding Laboratories, Inc., sued its competitor, Arizona Biological Control, Inc. (“Arbico”), for false advertising under the Lanham Act related to claims Arbico made about the developmental state of its wasps used for killing flies...

Courts Here Don't Rubber Stamp Stipulated Motions for a Protective Order

Posted on September 15, 2009
It happens every so often in these parts — the court denies a stipulated protective order. Suffice it to say, courts around here don’t rubber stamp litigants’ attempts to privatize court proceedings. A case in point from a Western District trademark infringement suit last week: “The parties request an expansive protective order for all confidential information that may be disclosed during the discovery phase of this proceeding...

Malaysian Court Says MCCURRY Does Not Infringe MCDONALD'S

Posted on September 09, 2009
McCurry’s owners get a happy result in victory against McDonald’s.Photo credit: AP/Mark Baker On Sept. 8, a 3-judge panel of Malaysia’s federal court found a restaurant’s use of MCCURRY does not infringe McDonald’s Corp...

Ninth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Two Trademark Claims, Affirms One

Posted on September 03, 2009
In Wyatt Technology Corporation v. Smithson, the plaintiff filed suit in the Central District of California alleging trademark claims and other business torts against the defendants arising out of the bankruptcy of the Proterion Corporation. The Central District of California dismissed three of Wyatt’s trademark claims on summary judgment...

That's Hot! The Ninth Circuit Favors Paris Hilton in Suit Against Hallmark Cards

Posted on September 02, 2009
Hallmark’s “Paris Hilton” card. Photo credit: The Smoking Gun The Ninth Circuit yesterday found in favor of Paris Hilton in her suit against Hallmark Cards for violating her Lanham Act rights and right of publicity by publishing a birthday card with an image of her face and using her THAT’S HOT registered trademark without her permission...

Paris Museum Illustrates that Counterfeiting Affects Everyone

Posted on September 01, 2009
No laughing matter: counterfeit condoms at the Musée de la ContrefaçonPhoto credit: Yves Forestier / Getty Images I’m all for combining tourism and trademarks. Next time I’m in Paris, I’m heading straight for the Musée de la Contrefaçon — the Museum of Counterfeiting...

Western District Finds No Likelihood of Confusion between HELIX Trademarks

Posted on August 31, 2009
In December 2007, Seattle’s RealNetworks, Inc., filed suit in the Western District against QSA Toolworks, LLC, seeking a declaration that its HELIX and HELIX and Design trademarks used in connection with digital media software do not infringe QSA Toolworks’ HELIX marks used in connection with relational database technology...

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