Supreme Court Upholds Nike’s “Sue and Run” Tactic in Defending Trademarked Shoe Design
Photos of Kate Moss snorting cocaine, videos of John Galliano hurling anti-Semitic slurs, throngs of women reporting extra-marital affairs with Tiger Woods… and then there was Lance Armstrong, our cancer fighting champion...more
On January 9, 2013, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc., holding that a broad covenant not to enforce a trademark against certain products of a competitor moots the competitor’s action to...more
In This Bulletin: - Just Moot It: Supreme Court in Already v. Nike Clarifies When a Covenant Not to Sue Can Kill a Declaratory Judgment Case - Murky Waters: Post-Approval Regulatory Activities and the §...more
In This Issue: - Supreme Court Affirms Dismissal Based on Nike's Broad Covenant Not to Sue - Hershey Cannot Kiss SWISSKISS Chocolates Goodbye - Luulemon's Design Mark is Rejected as Merely...more
In This Issue: *News From the Bench - Enough Already, Supreme Court Tells Petitioner in Mythology-Laced Opinion. - Divided Fed. Circuit Affirms Patentability of Claims to a 12-Can Dispenser Carton. -...more
Originally published in Sports Litigation Alert, Volume 10, Issue 1, on January 25, 2013. At the start of 2011, the sunglasses maker Oakley signed a two-year endorsement deal with Rory McIlroy. The agreement paid McIlroy...more
Brand owner's broad covenant not to sue may render invalidity counterclaims moot. On January 9, the U.S. Supreme Court in Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc. held that a plaintiff trademark owner's dismissal of its infringement...more
New legal ground is expected to be broken this year in areas of importance to companies and their directors, officers and executives. We see those developments coming from around the globe and defining the litigation...more
The Supreme Court recently ruled that Nike employing what some have called a “sue and run” tactic by engaging shoemaker Already in a trademark dispute then bailing with a “covenant not to sue” was indeed legal. Though Nike...more
Last week, in Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc. (opinion attached), the Supreme Court unanimously decided that the voluntary cessation doctrine, most often used when a defendant claims its voluntary compliance moots a case where it...more
The United States Supreme Court, which rarely gets involved in trademark cases, has ruled that when a Defendant in a Trademark infringement case countersues to cancel the Plaintiff’s registration, the Plaintiff can divest a...more
In 2007, the Supreme Court in MedImmune v. Genentech broadened the scope of declaratory judgment jurisdiction, making it easier for parties fearing IP claims to bring defensive lawsuits. Last week, the Court made it easier...more
In Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc., the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the trademark plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal of its infringement suit, together with a covenant not to sue, deprived the district court of...more
The U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion yesterday in the closely-watched case, Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc. In a decision that is almost certain to affect patent owners as well, the Court unanimously affirmed the Second...more
In a unanimous decision issued in Already, LLC d/b/a/ Yums v. Nike (No. 11-982, January 9, 2013), the Supreme Court held that a plaintiff’s dismissal of a trademark infringement case, combined with a broad covenant not to...more
In an important intellectual property ruling likely to affect patent law as much as trademark law, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc., No. 11-982 (U.S. Jan. 9, 2013), unanimously holding...more
Nike, having sued competitor Already LLC for infringing its marks, later issued a covenant not to sue to Already and sought to dismiss the case. Defendant Already, however, had filed a counterclaim seeking a declaration that...more
Not every day does the United States Supreme Court weigh in on a topic impacting the trademark world, but it did so yesterday in Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc., a case illustrating what can happen when a trademark plaintiff wants...more
Knowing how Adidas (or should I say, adidas) jealously guards its three stripe design on shoes, and is notorious for protecting against not only three, but two and four stripe buffers as well, my eyes were drawn to this...more
I thought about this final Holmes short story when I read an article in the November edition of Fast Company, entitled “Secrets of the Flux Leader”, where author Robert Safian engaged in an interesting discussion how of...more
JD Supra gets your content noticed, increases your visibility and makes your marketing efforts hassle free...
Learn More or Schedule a demo
