Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, January 5, 2015 will be a discussion of one Ninth Circuit decision and a Federal Circuit decision.  Synopses of the cases appear below:

Pom Wonderful LLC v. Hubbard, No. 14-55253 (9th Cir.  December 30, 2014 ) (available here). Plaintiff Pom Wonderful filed a preliminary injunction motion against defendant Pur Beverages seeking to enjoin defendant from using the POM mark on defendant’s products. Plaintiff alleged that defendant Pur Beverages’ use of the word “pom” on its pomegranate-flavored energy drink would cause consumer confusion and therefore sought a preliminary injunction. The district court denied plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction stating that plaintiff was unlikely to succeed on proving that there is a likelihood of consumer confusion. On appeal, the 9th Circuit reversed and remanded to the district court to reconsider whether the plaintiff has demonstrated the other factors necessary for a preliminary injunction.

Stryker Corporation v. Zimmer, Inc., Case No. 2013-1668  (Fed. Cir. December 19, 2014 ) (available here).  Stryker sued Zimmer for infringing its patents related to pulsed lavage devices. At the district court, the court held that the patents were valid, infringed and that the infringement was willful. On appeal, the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s holding that the patents were valid and infringed, but reversed the district court on its finding that the infringement was willful.

All are invited to join us in our discussion during the SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, January 5, 2015 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 Noelle Smith by 9 am Monday morning.