Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. banked on getting some laughs in a scene in The Hangover: Part II, when one of the characters bungles the name of his designer luggage. But the scene didn’t amuse luxury goods maker Louis Vuitton Malletier S.A., which hit the studio with a trademark infringement suit. Fortunately for Warner Bros., the judge overseeing the case got the joke.
Louis Vuitton sued Warner Bros. in December, claiming that the appearance of a counterfeit LV travel bag in the film infringed on its trademarks and created customer confusion. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter Jr. in Manhattan threw out the suit, siding with the studio’s lawyers at Jenner & Block and finding that the use of the bag in the film was noncommercial speech protected by the First Amendment. Jenner’s Andrew Bart told us that the ruling “properly captures the current state of trademark law” and protects Warner Bros.’s First Amendment rights, which were “the paramount interest in the litigation.”
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
