9th Cir.;
15-17418

The court of appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part a judgment. The court held that a competitor's use of an identical trademark on identical goods compelled a finding of liability for trademark infringement.

Arizona furniture manufacturer Stone Creek, Inc. entered into an agreement with California furniture manufacturer Omnia Italian Design, Inc. for Omnia to produce leather furniture for Stone Creek branded with the distinctive Stone Creek mark. The two companies worked together for almost 10 years. Some five years into the relationship, however, unbeknownst to Stone Creek, Omnia began using the Stone Creek logo for its own line of leather furniture that it sold to Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. It copied Stone Creek's logo, and branded all the furniture sold to Bon-Ton with that logo. Bon-Ton sold the furniture to customers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Stone Creek discovered Omnia's use of its mark in 2013, when a Bon-Ton furniture customer contacted Stone Creek with a warranty claim. Stone Creek sued Omnia for trademark infringement.