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Recent Trademark In Titles Cases Show 'High Bar' for Proving Public Was 'Explicitly Misled'
When it comes to expressive content, disputes over trademark rights in titles of creative works are commonly fought under the federal Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §1051 et seq. Many of these battles play out in courts in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which has well-developed legal guidelines on the subject — many of them from lawsuits that have arisen in the entertainment industry.
In Twentieth Century Fox TV v. Empire Distribution Inc., 875 F.3d 1192 (9th Cir. 2017), for example, the Ninth Circuit decided that the use of the title "Empire" for a Fox TV show didn't infringe on the trademark rights of an urban music label named Empire Distribution, even though the TV show was about a fictional New York-based record company named "Empire Enterprises." Fox also sold soundtrack albums and merchandise, and promoted its TV program through live events, for its Empire brand.
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