For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, June 25, 2018, we will discuss:

Moldex-Metric, Inc. v. McKeon Products, Inc.. (9th Cir June 5, 2018) (available here). Moldex-Metric, Inc. manufactures earplugs made from a bright green color. McKeon Products manufactured its own version of green earplugs, and Moldex sued them for trademark infringment. The district court granted Defendant’s motion for summary judgment, finding the green color of the earplugs lacked secondary meaning. The 9th Circuit disagreed, remanding the case for the court to consider McKeon’s arguments both that Moldex’s green color lacks secondary meaning and that there is no likelihood of confusion.

Fastship LLC v. US,  (CAFC June 5, 2018) (available here). Fastship sued the United States Government for infringing several of Fastship’s patents relating to boats. The United States motioned for partial summary judgment, arguing that it had not actually manufactured boats until after the patent expired. The court agreed finding “manufactured” in § 1498 to be equivalent to “suitable for use”. In other words, the actual product infringing must show each and every limitation of the claimed invention, thus an article only partially manufactured, could not be said to infringe.

All are invited to join us on Monday June 25, 2018, at noon in our Westlake Village office. This activity is approved for 1 hour of MCLE credit. If you will be joining us, please RSVP to Elisha Manzur by 9 am Monday morning.