CALIFORNIA DISTRICT COURT PUTS BABY IN A CORNER, ACCORDING TO THE ARTICLE BY DENNIS PRAHL
Dennis Prahl’s article entitled, “California District Court Puts Baby in a Corner,” reminds that federal trademark infringement claims may be preempted by claims under U.S. copyright law.
The article, which was originally published in WTR Daily, part of World Trademark Review, on May 6, 2016, is about the recent case of Lions Gate Entertainment v TD Ameritrade Services Company in which TD Ameritrade created an advertising campaign for retirement services that used modified elements from it’s movie Dirty Dancing without authorization.
Lions Gate made claims that TD Ameritrade committed trademark and copyright infringement as well as caused confusion for consumers by leading them to think these retirement sevices were endorsed by Lions Gate. The Central District Court of California found that Lions Gate did not plead sufficient facts to support its trademark infringement claim and that the trademark claim was preempted by the Copyright Act.