Judge Pamela Chen
The Gowanus Dredgers v. Baard The court had to determine plaintiff charity The Gowanus Dredgers’ motion for summary judgment against Baard on its claims for trademark infringement under Lanham Act §43(a), common law unfair competition and New York’s unfair competition laws. Gowanus’s claims arose from Baard’s allegedly unauthorized use on a social media site of the logo and name of the Long Island City Community Boathouse. The trademark consists of a circular logo featuring two boats and a wave graphic in the foreground, a depiction of the 59th Street Bridge in the background, both encircled by the text “L.I.C. Community Boathouse” and “www.licboathouse.org.” The court denied Gowanus’s motion, finding genuine factual issues regarding its standing to bring suit. It held that although Gowanus and the Boathouse have a close affiliation bearing some of the hallmarks of control and/or ownership, Gowanus failed to show that there are no genuine issues of fact as to its claimed ownership of the Boathouse’s assets, including the trademark. The court added that Gowanus also failed to show that there is no genuine issue of fact regarding its standing to bring this infringement action as a non-owner that has a commercial interest or pecuniary stake in the trademark.
