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October 16, 2026
PITTSBURGH — A federal magistrate judge in Pennsylvania ordered that parties’ bonds remain in place in a dispute over intellectual property rights related to a fudge recipe while the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals mulls appellate attorney fees; a partially split appeals court panel in July affirmed an award of attorney fees against plaintiff entities for their unsuccessful copyright and trademark claims in the dispute and affirmed their jury victory on trade secret claims.
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October 16, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — After a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel in June affirmed a federal judge’s decision to cancel a patriotic clothing company’s trademark on the phrase “This We’ll Defend” because another company began using the phrase as a mark years earlier, the clothing company that saw its mark canceled is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether the Lanham Act authorizes prejudgment interest in ordinary trademark infringement cases.
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October 16, 2026
PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona correctly dismissed a man’s complaint against Google LLC alleging that it infringed a trademark on his name by allowing allegedly defamatory material about him to appear in search results, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, finding that the plaintiff-appellant abandoned his theory of trademark infringement on appeal and failed to plead a newly asserted theory in the district court.
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October 16, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — After a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel in June affirmed a federal judge’s decision to cancel a patriotic clothing company’s trademark on the phrase “This We’ll Defend” because another company began using the phrase as a mark years earlier, the clothing company that saw its mark canceled is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether the Lanham Act authorizes prejudgment interest in ordinary trademark infringement cases.
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October 15, 2026
CHICAGO — A Chicago rooftop bar that overlooks Wrigley Field and its owner have appealed an Illinois federal judge’s entry of a permanent injunction that bars them from using marks owned by the Chicago Cubs Baseball Club LLC and from selling tickets to view Cubs games from the bar; the judge issued the injunction after granting the Cubs’ motion for summary judgment on trademark infringement claims but granting the defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the Cubs’ false advertising claims.
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October 15, 2026
SHERMAN, Texas — In an amended memorandum opinion, a Texas federal judge awarded guitar maker Gibson Inc. more than $4 million in attorney fees and costs from a company a jury held infringed trademarked guitar shapes, finding that fees were warranted based on the jury’s finding that the defendant entity intentionally infringed and counterfeited the trademarks.
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October 14, 2026
WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware dismissed a biotechnology company’s complaint against an animal-free egg protein maker, finding that there was no imminent substantial controversy between the parties that would give the court subject matter jurisdiction over the plaintiff’s claim seeking a declaratory judgment that the defendant’s patent is unenforceable, invalid and not infringed; the judge also found that the plaintiff lacked statutory standing to pursue a false advertising claim under the Lanham Act and failed to state a claim for tortious interference.
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October 13, 2026
DENVER — A federal magistrate judge in Colorado denied a man’s motion for a stay of the execution of judgment entered in favor of the American organization for worshippers in the Bahá’í faith on trademark claims during the pendency of his appeal; the man remains obligated to transfer a web domain to the religious entity after the magistrate judge determined in March that the outcome of the trademark claims was determined by the defendant’s loss before the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).
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October 12, 2026
BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge “reluctantly” entered a default judgment against a coffee shop and its owner that were accused of infringing marks associated with two grisly 1800s murders owned by a paranormal tour company that owns the house where the murders took place; the judge said that while he had doubts about the tour company’s likelihood of success on the merits, the coffee shop’s ongoing failure to secure counsel and its owner’s failure to comply with discovery orders made the default judgment necessary.
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October 12, 2026
SAN JOSE — Impossible Foods Inc. is appealing to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a California federal judge’s amended judgment that established that it owes $1.5 million in damages after a jury found in March that it infringed a web company’s marks on the word “Impossible.”
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October 07, 2026
PEORIA, Ill. — A federal judge in Illinois granted the Illinois Agricultural Association’s (IAA) motion for a preliminary injunction in its second trademark infringement case against a media group focusing on content for rural listeners, finding that IAA is likely to succeed on its claims that the media group infringed its “RFD” trademarks.
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October 06, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 5 again denied an Italian wine company’s application to recall and stay a mandate of the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which in June vacated a New York federal judge’s summary judgment finding that a 2004 U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) decision had preclusive effect on the issue of likelihood of confusion on claims that a California winery infringed the Italian winery’s trademarks.
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September 25, 2026
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge in California issued an amended judgment that established that Impossible Foods Inc. owes $1.5 million in damages after a jury found in March that it infringed a website’s mark on the word “Impossible”; the judge also canceled an upcoming retrial on the issue of punitive damages after Impossible X LLC waived its right to a retrial.
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September 21, 2026
CINCINNATI — In a dispute over cheese shredder products sold under variations of the name “Cheese Hog,” a federal judge in Ohio dismissed with prejudice defendants’ fraud-based counterclaims; however, a reasonable dispute remains for jurors to decide on claims of infringement, the judge determined.
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September 21, 2026
ATLANTA — In a dispute over the use of the name “Wolf” in relation to scooters, an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Florida federal judge’s grant of summary judgment to the plaintiff appellee entity, noting the close similarity of the marks at issue and more than a dozen instances of actual customer confusion.
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September 21, 2026
ST. LOUIS — A Missouri federal judge dismissed a credit union’s federal trademark dilution and Missouri infringement counts it brought against a loan company for alleged misuse of trademarks involving the word “together,” but the judge allowed cybersquatting and Missouri trademark dilution claims to survive; the judge held that the plaintiff company plausibly alleged bad faith use of a confusingly similar domain while failing to plead the nationwide fame required for federal dilution.
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September 21, 2026
BALTIMORE — After a bench trial, a Maryland federal judge determined that an early member of a Baltimore soul music group never left the group, remaining a holder of its trademark rights; as a result, the judge determined that a defendant’s later registrations associated with the band must be canceled as invalid.
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September 18, 2026
CHARLESTON, S.C. — After a South Carolina federal judge entered a consent judgment agreed upon by the parties, a clothing company will pay Buc-ee’s Ltd., the gas station company known for its megastores in the southern United States, $850,000 for using its trademarked cartoon beaver logo on merchandise.
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September 17, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 16 distributed for conference a challenge from the family of baseball player Roberto Clemente to a partly divided First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel opinion that largely affirmed a Puerto Rico federal judge’s decision to dismiss a suit against Puerto Rican government entities by Clemente’s sons; while the family questions the extent to which the government entities are immune from trademark infringement suits, the government entities said in an August response that the bid for certiorari should be denied.
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September 17, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A series of amici curiae filed briefs in support of neither party before the U.S. Supreme Court in which a petitioner coffee company argues that a trademark’s inherent or conceptual strength is a factual question because the inquiry asks how consumers perceive the mark in connection with the relevant goods, arguing that the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is an outlier for considering similarity to be a question of law; the amici take a range of opinions as to whether conceptual strength is a factual issue for juries or a mixed inquiry of both fact and law.
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September 10, 2026
CINCINNATI — In an order filed in two related cases, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel denied a pro se defendant-appellant’s request for a writ of mandamus in which he sought an audit of a trademark and harassment dispute with the appellant’s former employer; the panel said the man failed to show that his earlier appeal was not an adequate remedy.
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September 10, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its merits brief, a coffee company tells the U.S. Supreme Court that a trademark’s inherent or conceptual strength is a factual question because the inquiry asks how consumers perceive the mark in connection with the relevant goods, arguing that the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is an outlier for considering similarity to be a question of law.
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September 10, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Sept. 9 denied a Dutch software company’s request to stay a North Carolina federal judge’s amended preliminary injunction and delay trial while it sought review by the high court in a dispute over a North Carolina company’s trademarked branding, copyrighted code and trade secrets.
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August 19, 2026
NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 18 affirmed a New York federal judge’s denial of beverage markers’ motion to vacate a bench trial finding in defendants-appellees’ favor in a dispute over beverage trademarks; the panel agreed that the plaintiff-appellant entities provided no new evidence that the judge was misled by a fraudulent account about a disputed operating agreement.
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August 14, 2026
LAS VEGAS — A federal judge in Nevada determined that defendant travel agency defendants should see a jury’s $250,000 actual damages award against them doubled to $500,000 for willfully infringing a trademark on the phrase “Dirty Vibes” belonging to an adult entertainment company; the judge also determined that the defendants owe another half a million in disgorgement.