- Court: Intellectual Property Archives
- Area(s) of Law: Trademarks
- Date Filed: 08-18-2011
- Case #: 10-13985
- Judge(s)/Court Below: U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan; Before: Cook
- Full Text Opinion
For full opinion:
2011 U.S. Dist.LEXIS 92610
2011 WL 3648340
Opinion (Cook): The Lorillard Tobacco Company ("Company") owned the Newport brand of cigarettes, which were distributed throughout the country. The Company held several federal registrations for trademarks. In 2010, a representative from the Company found nine packages of Newport cigarettes at Zoom Enterprises, Inc. and one carton at Speedy Enterprise Corporation ("Zoom and Speedy") that were later confirmed as counterfeit. An ex parte seizure order unveiled further discoveries of counterfeited cigarettes with the Newport name. The counterfeit products were sold along with the genuine products, which the court found was evidence of consumer confusion and established evidence of the mark's dilution. Therefore, the court GRANTED the Company's motion for summary judgment on the issue of trademark dilution.