Intellectual Property News and Reports

Syngenta Seeds, Inc. (Syngenta) sued Bunge North America, Inc. (Bunge), alleging Bunge (1) breached an obligation under the United States Warehouse Act (USWA), 7 U.S.C. §§ 241-256; (2) breached a duty to third-party beneficiaries of a licensing agreement between Bunge... Read more →

MANION, Circuit Judge. Fortres Grand Corporationdeve lops and sells a desktop management program called “Clean Slate.” When Warner Bros. Entertainment used the words “the clean slate” to describe a hacking program in the movie, The Dark Knight Rises, Fortres Grand... Read more →

CLAY, Circuit Judge. These consolidated appeals arise from a jury trial followed by a contempt proceeding. At trial, Defendants N2G Distributing, Inc. (“N2G”) and Alpha Performance Labs were found to have infringed the trademark and trade dress of 5-hour ENERGY... Read more →

This is the latest installment of unfortunate litigation over control of a charitable corporation created to help the suffering people of Sudan. The Plaintiff is the former Chairman of the Board of Directors, and was removed as a director and... Read more →

This is a trademark case. The appellant, StonCor Group, Inc., owns the registered trademark “STONSHIELD.” When a different company, Specialty Coatings, Inc., sought registration of a competing mark, “ARMORSTONE,” StonCor opposed the registration, asserting a likelihood of confusion between ARMORSTONE... Read more →

This case is on appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Appellant Nordic Naturals, Inc. (“Nordic”) sought to register CHILDREN’S DHA, in standard characters, for “nutritional supplements containing DHA.” “DHA”... Read more →

McAirlaids, Inc. filed suit against Kimberly-Clark Corp. for trade-dress infringement and unfair competition under §§ 32(1)(a) and 43(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946 (“Lanham Act”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1114(1)(a) and 1125(a), and Virginia common law. The district court granted... Read more →

The panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a trademark cancellation claim under § 37 of the Lanham Act. The panel held that the trademark cancellation claim would not provide an independent basis for subject matter jurisdiction standing alone. The... Read more →

The panel affirmed in part, reversed in part and vacated in part the district court’s decision in trademark litigation concerning a dispute over the commercial use of a deceased celebrity’s image, likeness, and name. Experience Hendrix, LLC, which owns trademarks... Read more →

The panel affirmed the district court’s summary judgment and permanent injunction against the defendant in a trademark infringement action brought by a marketer of organic mushrooms. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant wrongly imported and marketed mushrooms under the plaintiff’s... Read more →